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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24418168">Pushing the Boundaries</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShadowInTheKnight/pseuds/TheShadowInTheKnight'>TheShadowInTheKnight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Brat Peter Parker, Corporal Punishment, Gen, Guardian-Ward Relationship, Irondad, Light Angst, Minor Original Character(s), Non-Consensual Spanking, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Tony Stark, Spanking, Tony Stark Has A Heart, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:22:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,375</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24418168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShadowInTheKnight/pseuds/TheShadowInTheKnight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark didn't have many boundaries with Peter Parker. The kid was respectful, kind-hearted, and full of potential. Naturally, when the kid starts crossing lines he didn't know existed, he's at a loss. How do you wrangle a kid who would throw himself on top of a bomb to get your attention?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>(past), May Parker (Spider-Man) &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) &amp; Tony Stark, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>184</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi all! This is a story two years in the making that I finally pushed myself to complete. I hope everyone enjoys!</p><p>If you're sensitive to topics and events that have to do with non-consensual parental spanking, this isn't the story for you and I recommend stopping here.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After his disastrous childhood and long, difficult road of alcohol and pain, Tony had never considered the possibility of having children. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to, only that he felt entirely unfit and unprepared to ever be in charge of anything other than a pet goldfish or a plant (and even that in itself was incredibly sketchy). Blackout drunk philanthropists didn't tend to produce offspring. He'd spent years being shot at, beaten down, and blown up in a skin-tight suit of armor, so settling down was not a viable option, let alone creating a whole new life. He grappled daily with politics and war, not diapers and bottles. Guns and spaceships, not daycare and pimples. Indeed, children were never apart of Tony Stark's thinly laid out plan, and over the years nothing had deviated from this hazy picture of the future.</p><p>So, Tony couldn't help but wonder how in the hell he ended up in his current situation, waiting for a teenager outside a high school in a small black minivan reminiscent of a soccer mom's carpool rather than a millionaire's wheels. </p><p>The salt and pepper haired man tapped his fingers along the steering wheel of the vehicle he had begrudgingly piloted to the driveway of a small academy for gifted high school age students. One he had driven up to several times in a mere two months. Despite his bewilderment at the prospect of having a ward, this had become common practice. Every Friday afternoon he could be found waiting outside the high school's walls for a certain brunette to crawl into his passenger seat, who Tony would whisk away to his looming headquarters for a weekend of training with fellow recruits and bonding with his reluctant guardian; Tony himself. </p><p>However, despite his disbelief and reluctance with the situation, he wouldn't have it any other way. He'd chosen this road. He had signed those papers and made the agreement to guard the kid and keep him safe. He could have walked away. He could have just let the boy finish school and left him to live in his dingy apartment in Queens. Simply put, if Tony Stark hadn't wanted the kid, he wouldn't have the kid. It was as simple as that, and Tony knew more than anything that he wanted this kid. </p><p>And all of this was something he'd refuse to admit. </p><p>Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the frontmost doors to the school swing open and out stepped the first of a wave of students piling out the doors and glancing around for their respective rides home across a sea of multicolored minivans, trucks, and compacts. They piled onto the sidewalks and began crawling into various vehicles like bees slipping into honeycombs, instantly buzzing endlessly to their weary parents about how classes and classmates had treated them. </p><p>He smirked slightly at their tired, beaten expressions in the face of their talkative children, slightly empathizing with their pain. However, Tony's smirk shifted to an annoyed scowl as he saw a few of the gremlins glance at his mom-mobile, turning to their friends and laughing in amusement. </p><p>"I didn't want to drive this soccer wagon, you brats." He snapped under his breath, pushing his sunglasses back over his eyes with a huff and stared straight ahead at the door in wait as he envisioned driving up in one of his many sports cars and watching their jaws drop.</p><p>A little head of brown, scruffy hair caught his eye and he felt his scowl soften into a grin, seeing his ward poke his head up above the crowd and glance around in determination before finally locking his gaze of a familiar beaten up minivan, lips splitting in a wide smile as the sophomore nearly plowed people over in his pursuit to get to the car. Tony chuckled and rolled his eyes, reaching over to unlock the door and let Peter Parker throw open the back seat door and toss his bag in, then shut the door and scramble over the front to plop himself in the passenger seat.</p><p>"Hey, Mr. Stark!" Despite climbing over the seat and barreling through a crowd of people to the car, Peter's voice was completely steady and without fatigue, not to either of their surprise. His strength was a thing to marvel.</p><p>Tony moved the sunglasses back to the top of his head, turning on the car and swiveling out of the parking lot swiftly. "Hey, kid. I know this car's pretty beat up but it's not a jungle gym." Though Tony's words indicated a scolding, his tone betrayed his mirth, causing Peter to giggle slightly, crossing his arms and leaning back in the shredded leather seat to relax slightly while pulling out his cellphone and scrolling through his social media apps absentmindedly.</p><p>"I thought spiders were supposed to climb on things."</p><p>Tony lifted an eyebrow and responded without taking his eyes off the road. "Yeah on walls, not upholstery."</p><p>Peter smirked in response but didn't give any other reply, letting a comfortable silence hang over them as the car hummed beneath them and rolled along the road at a comfortable speed, thankfully not brought to a halt by the thicker traffic deep in the city of New York. No, luckily, they were headed upstate. Away from the hustle and bustle of the big city to the towering walls of the building he now considered home.</p><p>He rolled his shoulders slightly and sighed, glancing at the backseat through the mirror above his dashboard with the corners of his lips turning upwards ever so slightly. Peter used to sit in the back quietly and nervous before he encouraged the boy to join him in the front. "I'm not a chofer", were his exact words, if he remembered correctly. Now, the boy sat right next to him, sometimes talking his ear off and other times scrolling through his phone in silence, nothing to say but always comfortable. That same comforting aura was present now, as it was then.</p><p>Yes, despite his initial nervousness and reluctance, he was glad to have the kid.</p><p>Though, he was slightly less glad as the boy let out a long, sharp gasp and grabbed his shoulder with a rough tug. He broke from his reverie and jerked in shock, the car swerving and earning a series of irritated honks and swears from the cars behind. Eyes narrowed in annoyance and heart still pounding, he swiveled his head briefly to give a sheepish Peter a sharp look, then turned back to the road.</p><p>"Don't do that! You scared the shit out of me! I could have killed us!" He remembered something and scoffed, shaking his head. "Well, me anyway."</p><p>Peter's cringed in a slight display of shame, but he seemed to quickly recover from his forgotten fumble and was excitedly tapping against his shoulder with a wide grin and eyes lit with excitement at something residing within the small screen of his cell phone.</p><p>"Sorry, Mr. Stark. I just saw something awesome! Remember that ice cream place in Queens?"</p><p>Tony glanced over with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "You're gonna have to be a bit more specific."</p><p>Peter flushed slightly and shook his head at his own slip of the mind, looking back down at his phone with determination and a searching look.</p><p>"You know! The one with the super freeze stuff! The... crap what was it..." Tony heard the boy muttering terms under his breath and hearing a couple of Spanish ones float by as well. It was painful to watch and Tony elected to relieve him of the confusion.</p><p>"Liquid Nitrogen?"</p><p>Peter clapped his hands together loudly, pointing to Tony triumphantly with a look of realization on his face. "Yeah! That!"</p><p>The older man laughed out loud and aimed his attention back at the road. "Yeah, I think I remember you mentioning it. Why?"</p><p>Peter's smile grew wider, nearly splitting his cheeks in two with his excitement and intensity. "They're doing a free day! It's just for today, some kind of holiday or something. We have to go!"</p><p>Tony felt an acute sense of weariness at the prospect of driving through the city as opposed to getting as far away from traffic as possible. He grimaced at the road, trying to avoid Peter's hopeful gaze and think of a million ways to say no. However, after doing a mental plot of the road to Queens and fruitlessly attempting to stand up to the kid's ridiculous, watery puppy dog eyes, he slumped slightly and sighed, giving Peter a tired smile.</p><p>"Alright, alright, kid, cool down. I guess we have time."</p><p>Tony's eye carried a light twinkle as he met the boy's eye once more. "But we're taking it to go. Deal?"</p><p>Peter nodded enthusiastically and pumped a fist in the air with a light whoop of excitement at his guardian's confirmation, eyes sparkling bright like fireworks and grin as bright as diamonds. Something that made Tony feel a swelling feeling of pride and content in his chest, feeling a sense of success. Being the fun mentor had its perks, and the look on Peter's face was one of them.</p><p>But he would never admit it.</p><p>The millionaire chuckled in reply and turned forward with a smile, once again returning his focus to the road before him. </p><p>The world gave him a moment. One moment to react. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull alongside his heart which tried to burst from his chest as he stared blankly at a sheet of solid rock flying in free fall towards the street before them. He absently heard Peter shout his name in horror as he roughly slammed his heel down on the brake, causing the car to skid along the pavement with a deafening screech and the intoxicating scent of rubber and smoke. They slid to a stop just before the stone which slammed against the black road with a bang not unlike a gunshot, sending tiny pebbles and a few large stones flying towards the windshield where they bounced off like raindrops and fell to the ground. </p><p>When Tony finally processed what was going on, after his heart stopped trying to run a marathon through the Atlantic ocean, the first thing he noticed was his hands, one gripping the steering wheel in a vice grip with white knuckles and a trembling wrist, and the other flat against Peter's chest in a protective hold. The next thing was the constant ringing in his ears, the steady roar of blood attacking his senses. Slowly, the ringing and trembling faded and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, panting in relief of his survival and the sudden onslaught of sensory information. The screaming of people on the street, the way he felt incredibly warm, yet chilled to the bone, and a small set of hands around his bicep shaking him lightly as a familiar voice called out to him.</p><p>"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark, please! We have to get out and help! Tony!"</p><p>The desperate outcry shook him back into gear and he pulled his arm away, pounding a fist gently against his chest to get his mind back into gear before pressing a carefully placed button on his wrist, feeling over a billion nanobots crawl over his skin and solidify into his signature skin-tight suit of iron armor. The glowing blue and orange user interface appeared before him as the nanobots formed over his face, flashing in alarm, and he quickly snapped his gaze to Peter, shaking his head firmly.</p><p>"No, Parker. You stay here."</p><p>He watched as Peter's face went from intense concern to outrage and the boy opened his mouth to protest, however, Tony held a hand to command silence.</p><p>"No but's kid! This is out of your league!"</p><p>Tony looked up and felt his stomach sink as he saw flames licking the sides of the walls above, much to the horror of the innocent bystanders within the building and along the sidewalk watching in complete horror and terror. He reached down and unbuckled his seatbelt, moving to open the door and shoot off like a bullet. However, a hand grabbed his metal-covered wrist tight, pulling him back slightly. </p><p>"No, Mr. Stark I can do this! What about the pla-?"</p><p>Tony shook off the wrist and turned to scold Peter one last time in response. "That was a plane, kid. Your suit can handle a fifty story drop, not a fifty story building falling on top of it! Mine can." He reached for the doorknob of the van and opened it wide, preparing to take off with one final command. "Stay here. I mean it!"</p><p>Before Peter could utter so much as a reply, he activated his thrusters and took off, the rockets boosting him into the city air and bringing him closer and closer to the top of the tower; one he now recognized as an office building. Fascinated, terrified faces glanced at him from stairwells as the bustled their way down, running frantically away from the source of the carnage. The wind whistled past the metal of his suit and ash hit his mask across the eyes as it drifted down from the roaring fires. </p><p>As he finally reached the top floor he slowed his thrusters, hovering in the air and moving closer to the building, keeping a distance from the raging flames licking at his feet. </p><p>"Friday, what am I looking at?"</p><p>There was silence for no more than a second before a gentle, disembodied, female voice responded to his request. </p><p>"The fires seemed to have been caused by a chemical blast. Fire's composition suggests the use of homemade materials. Structural integrity is preserved however there are civilians trapped in six of the offices in the rightmost wing."</p><p>He felt a small surge of surprise and confusion at the mild nature of the explosions, having expected something much more severe with the size of the blast. The settings in his palms slowly shifted and a few red thermal markings appeared on his screen indicating the worst of the fires and a few rapidly moving, trapped blips on his radar. Slowly, he raised his palms to the fire and a white fluffy foam shot from his palms, coating the fires and swiftly putting them out and clearing him a path. He quickly lowered himself to the weakened tile, careful not to fall through the floor.</p><p>As soon as his feet touched solid ground, he was sprinting, putting out the fires with bursts of foam and clearing himself a path, before reaching a solid, wooden door with a dancing red mark on its surface, courtesy of his UI. Determined, he dug his fingers into the doors wooden frame and ripped it from its hinges, met with the sight of a terrified young woman crouched in a corner with tears running down her face. Tony, threw the door behind him haphazardly, waving a hand in her direction as a signal to follow. Slowly and shakily she rose to her feet, sizing him up warily with a shifty gaze.</p><p>"Follow me if you want to get out of here alive."</p><p>Swallowing, the young redhead nodded, rushing to his side with arms crossed in fear. Tony turned to the rest of the floor in time to see the flames devour the rest of the door. He took a breath and raised his palm.</p><p>"Let's go."</p><p>One goal in mind, he continued down this toilsome path, putting out raging infernos, ripping down doors, and gaining a small entourage that grew more and more the farther he pursued his task of extinguishing the flames. A young redheaded woman, a twenty-year-old blonde man, a three-year-old girl and her mother, and a janitor. With these six in tow and the fires already beginning to pick up speed once more, he began ushering them down the stairs, taking one set at a time and assisting those who needed assistance before they finally reached the bottom, meeting hundreds of worried, yet relieved expressions. Workers, civilians, emergency personnel, and family all looked to him gratefully and embraced their loved ones, leaving him with a small feeling of satisfaction that buzzed in his chest. </p><p>However, he wasn't finished just yet. Once again, Tony activated his thrusters to fly above the crowd, enough to get their attention.</p><p>"Did anybody see who set the bomb?" His firm question was met with silence and he frowned, responding with more vigor. "Come on, anyone?"</p><p>There was movement from the corner of his eye and he turned to see the redhead from before stepping forward, raising a gentle hand. He slowly lowered himself to her level and stepped forward, waiting on bated breath for her response.</p><p>"I-I'm the receptionist here... I was close to where the fires started..." She swallowed, looking down at her shaking hands. "I... didn't see anyone come in or out with anything strange this week... I-It had to have been after hours."</p><p>Tony's eyebrows furrowed under his helmet and he took a pause, the predictive confusion from before sweeping overhead. "There's got to be a mistake, the blast didn't just appear out of nothing." He lifted his mask, showing his confusion and frustration. "You must've missed something. Did you have a sub at any point? Or go to the bathroom? Anything at all?"</p><p>She flinched in nervousness and he internally scolded himself for being so harsh. He knew better, but something wasn't sitting right about this situation. </p><p>"N-No... I mean I do have someone take over if I need the restroom but she reports everything to me... They must have come in after hours."</p><p>Tony couldn't keep the scowl off his face as he sighed and nodded abruptly, sliding his mask back down and turning his back to the girl to think through his muddled thoughts. There was no way that it was a coincidence. If the bomb was set after hours, it was a time bomb, which must have taken effort. And there was no way it just happened to be timed just as he and the kid were driving under that exact tower. It was also made from loose-leaf materials. Someone who knew how to time a bomb would surely use something more sophisticated...</p><p>An iron anvil sought refuge in his gut and he felt a lump form in his throat as he made a sudden realization. He rushed forward, activating his thrusters for extra speed as he rushed back to the front door.</p><p>"Friday, scan the basement floor for weaponry."</p><p>Another split second passed before Friday's voice returned his request, voice tight with similar panic. </p><p>"Four thermite bombs found on the bottom floor, sir! One along each support column!"</p><p>His fear was quickly confirmed with that one reply. It was all a diversion. He swore loudly, bursting through the glass doors without pause, even as glimmering shards went flying in every direction. Though the window didn't interrupt his panicked route, a horrifying sight from the corner of his vision did just that.</p><p>The van was as it was before, beaten, bruised, and running...</p><p>...but empty.</p><p>Tony felt his panic wash over him like a wave of ice-cold water as he stared, gripped by the realization. He slowly looked towards the basement, activating his thrusters and blasting off in a frenzy to the stairwell. </p><p>The trip down below was a blur of tile, stone, and rails before he finally slid to a stop at the bottom of the staircase, eyes desperately scanning the area for a certain red and blue-clad boy. He was met with the sight of four wired bombs strapped to stone columns, beeping incessantly and flashing a bright, firetruck red to assault his brown irises. In addition, he was met with his worst fear. Peter-freaking-Parker smack dab in the middle of all of it, struggling with a pair of pliers and shaking hands over a small detonator, brown hair sweating and hanging down on his forehead, abandoned by the mask left crumpled on the floor as he tried to work out the difference between the red wire and the blue wire. </p><p>The second Tony processed the situation, he shouted in alarm, shooting through the air like a military jet to knock Peter from the detonator, the pliers skittering away across the floor out of reach as he hovered above his ward, this time held up by his palms and knees rather than rockets and jet fuel. The boy grunted and cried out in alarm as they landed, eyes wide in terror at his guardian while simultaneously looking quite sheepish and ashamed. The boy quickly glanced away to the detonator, attempting to slide out of Tony's hold. The man merely grabbed the kid's jaw forcefully, removing his iron mask and turning Peter's chin up to meet his face which was twisted in fury.</p><p>"What the hell were you thinking? You could have died! You could have been caught! What part of stay don't you understand?"</p><p>Peter's eyes started to look misty and miserable as he attempted to pull away, a feat which may have been simple without the iron suit wrapped around Tony's hand.</p><p>"G-Get off! I can still disable it! I can-!"</p><p>Tony gave a short growl and gently shook Peter's jaw with a stern look. "No, kid! A bomb is a way different from a junkyard computer!" He quickly scrambled away from his ward to stand and face the bomb, a hand extended as a silent warning to the stubborn kid stay back.</p><p>"Just. Stay!" </p><p>For once, the boy's mouth snapped shut and the older man glanced back to see him shakily shuffle backward against the floor as though Tony himself was the bomb. He turned back to the ticking device and swallowed, hands slowly extending to examine the device. Unlike the kid, Tony had extensive experience in engineering weapons. The millionaire slowly began lowering himself to the devices level, with its incessant flashing and a timer than seemed to be slowly counting down to a point. As he lowered himself further, he closed in enough to make sense of the timer and his lungs suddenly felt paralyzed.</p><p>5...</p><p>Tony gasped in a breath of horror and stumbled back towards Peter.</p><p>4...</p><p>Peter gave him a look of confusion that morphed into horror.</p><p>3...</p><p>Tony grabbed the boy's mask from the floor.</p><p>2... </p><p>Tony launched himself forward, wrapping his arms around the kid.</p><p>1...</p><p>Peter wrapped his own arms around his guardian, squeezing his eyes shut.</p><p>0...</p><p>The world went white-hot, then black...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Pressure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>At first, there was no sound. Only black. Suffocating, crushing black, and a warm form wrapped around his waist. His brain felt foggy, as though filled with clouds instead of a brain. However, he could feel the clouds parting, and with each minute that passed, he became more aware. Slowly, his senses returned to the world of the living. He heard a gentle fearful whimpering. A crowd of voices gathered around them. He was so tired... How did he get here...?</p><p>Slowly, memories began to flow. A fire... Peter... A bomb...</p><p>A bomb!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony's eyes split open in a fraction of a second, staring in utter fear at the blackness before him and glancing around from his position on the dusty, rocky pavement. There was no light. No indication of a location. They could be underground. Lost. Who knows if anyone knew if they survived. He felt the anxiety pressing in on him and a tightness form in his chest, his breathing quickening as he tightened his hold on the warmth in his grip. </p><p>Wait... Peter. </p><p>Now more than fully alert, he pulled away, shaking Peter lightly. From his lack of response to being squeezed in panic, he assumed the kid was unconscious. However, the small shake brought him back to reality. Peter gave a small groan, presumably going through the same mental confusion judging by the moment of silence. After that moment had passed, however, Parker was fully alert, shifting around in fear and reaching blindly for his guardian. "Mr. Stark...? Tony...?'</p><p>Tony made a small sound of acknowledgment reaching forward and putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm here kid, I'll get you out of here."</p><p>Peter shifted away from the man's hand, making a small sound of tense, nervous acknowledgment as he went to stand. "Let me help, I can do it."</p><p>Stark groaned in irritation, finding the boy's shoulder and pushing him down forcefully and earning a small yelp in response. "No, you've done enough for today. Just stay put." </p><p>There was silence in the blackness and he took that as agreement. He slowly stood, feeling around the darkness and trying to find some sort of indication of their location. His hands reached forward blindly, feeling around for a sign. Finally, his hand brushed against a smooth sheet of metal, almost like a wall. Tony narrowed his eyes and reached forward further, trailing his hands across the wall. The wall slowly curved upwards, above their heads, and meeting on the other side in a dome-like shape. It was then that he realized their exact location and the tension in his chest began to melt in relief.</p><p>"Kid. Put your mask back on."</p><p>"What, why? We-"</p><p>"Just be quiet and do as I say!"</p><p>Tony turned to the direction of Peter's voice with a harsh stare. The kid seemed to sense this as he cut off his argument quickly. With this, he turned his gaze upward.</p><p>"Barrier, descend."</p><p>A sharp sliver of bright sunlight glinted through the top of the iron barrier and the walls slowly fell around them, causing both to shield their sensitive eyes and hiss in displeasure from the intensity of the ache attacking their eyes. However, slowly, Tony's eyes settled, and the scene around them became more clear. They were at the bottom of a hole not unlike a ditch, the nanobots having once again formed together, shrinking into the gold bracelet the millionaire was often seen wearing out and about with a light flashing red signaling the loss of battery. A majority of the rubble around them had been cleared away by a bright orange excavator hovering curiously above them, as though giving them a questioning stare. </p><p>And finally, a group of people in neon hard hats and life vests gazed down at them in curiosity before gasping in realization and spinning around to shout violently behind them.</p><p>"We found them! Get the crane! Hurry!"</p><p>A small breath of relief flowed from Tony's lips and some of the tension in his shoulders relieved itself as the workers scurried off in different directions like rats. He stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed, rolling his now relaxed shoulders and looking back at Peter. The red and blue-clad boy was covered in soot, sprawled out quite gloriously across the ground while looking relieved and relaxed as well, but glancing at Tony with a knowing, nervous gaze, even through the eyes of the suit. </p><p>The millionaire felt a slow bubble of anger rise from within his gut and he clenched his fists tight as the tension returned with a vivid memory of all that had occurred. A clear frown on his lips, he reached down and grabbed the bracelet lying unassumingly on the ground, sliding it back over his hand and feeling the nanobots morph to his wrist as he turned his back on his ward. </p><p>Tony could sense his disobedient spiderling slowly climbing to his feet behind him, and felt a small hand grab the sleeve of his jacket, tugging lightly in an attempt to get his attention. </p><p>"Mr. Stark...? Are you ma-?"</p><p>Tony gave Peter a harsh look, stunning the boy into silently dropping his hand away from the man's arm.</p><p>"Not another word out of you."</p><p>Before either could utter another word, a crane with a small platform attached to the iron hook broke the crest of the ditch, blocking the sun and grabbing their full attention as it began slowly lowering itself to the ground. As it met their level, they crawled on top of the wooden slate, sitting side by side even as the tension crackled and sparked between them. Slowly, they were pulled up until they finally had feet on solid ground, leaving that ditch to dust.</p><p>The millionaire looked around with a tight expression at the destruction surrounding them. The building had completely collapsed, rubble scattered every which way. The crowds had long since vanished, most likely having been evacuated after he had taken off in such a panic. This left piles of dust and debris climbing high above their heads, glimmering a bright grey in the harsh, unforgiving sun. Despite the minimized casualties, the sting of failure blew through his nerves like a harsh stormy wind. </p><p>They were ushered away by emergency services to get full examinations in the ambulances that had been awaiting their arrival, however once assured that the two were not hurt, they were both free to go. To Tony's honest surprise, the van was not only still alive, but still in running, functional order. Albeit turned off, thanks to the courtesy of the salvage workers. The two climbed into the van in complete silence, Tony's face twisted into an expression of contained anger, and Peter's a contorted, pained visage, glancing at his guardian periodically as though sizing up Tony's emotions. The older man starkly ignored his nervous glances, inserting the retrieved key and twisting it sharply, feeling the car roar to life beneath them as the steady rumble of the engine filled the silence. </p><p>The car rolled over the lesser of the rubble with ease, tires crackling against loose gravel as they rolled away from the wreckage, maneuvering around to move away from the offending stone wall, which had nearly crushed them under its weight, to shoot down the road on a clear path upstate, obviously skipping their previously planned detour. The sun began to dip below the horizon, coloring the sky magnificent shades of pink, orange, and blue that were eventually tinged with green as they reached more northern parts of the state, grass decorating the sides of the roads as opposed to grey, dull buildings. The only sounds radiating through the van were the wind roaring against the frame of the vehicle and Tony's fingers tapping against the steering wheel as he stared ahead firmly.</p><p>However, despite the lack of voices filling the atmosphere, his brain was swimming in thought, attempting to make sense of the day's events. Now, it wasn't the superhero work, or the dozens of times they both came a hair's breadth away from death. Those were merely occupational hazards. Four thermite bombs in a basement had nothing on carrying a nuclear bomb on his back through a wormhole towards an alien war fleet. No, he could deal with that just fine. What truly got under his skin was the way Peter had behaved. After the ferry incident, things had been running fairly smoothly between the two of them without further conflict. They worked together in his lab, he'd helped the kid with homework, and they'd trained together. Hell, he'd practically taken the boy under his wing. And this? This had to have been the biggest conflict since the boat.</p><p>Tony squeezed the wheel tight, attempting to control his anger as his mind brought Peter's actions to the surface. It was more than a slip of the mind or an honest mistake. This was blatant disobedience. He thought back to before May's accident to a similar incident. When the boy split a ferry clean in two. Back then, he had simply confiscated the suit and cut off contact without a regret or a thought. However, things were different now. He signed those papers and took on the responsibility of being a guardian. This meant more than being a mentor and a friend, and though he had never been confronted with the reality of the situation, it was now brazenly presenting itself. </p><p>He had to be the bad guy. And he didn't know how to handle that.</p><p>A small voice interrupted his fuming brooding.</p><p>"Um... are you upset...?" Peter sounded incredibly unsure, as though sticking a toe in the pool to test the temperature.</p><p>Unfortunately for Peter, the pool was boiling. Tony whipped his head towards the boy to give him an incredulous look laced with fury and disbelief. The kid's eyes widened, arms crossed protectively across his chest and gaze locked on him as though he was a wild animal.</p><p>"Oh, we've gone beyond upset kid. We've blown way past that."</p><p>He turned his focus back on the road, but not quite finished tearing into his ward. "You directly disobeyed me! Again! This is the second time you've ignored every word I've said to just go and do your own thing like some discount fusion of Bonnie and Clyde!" Not his best analogy but he was too angry to care. "I told you to stay in the car! You disobeyed! I told to not to get involved! You waltzed down to the basement of a burning building to try and deactivate a thermite bomb with a pair of god damn pliers!"</p><p>For most of Tony's scorching lecture, the boy was silently glaring at the windshield, having turned away from his guardian to sulk. However, as the older man's voice continued to rise, he noticed the kid growing increasingly agitated until finally, he couldn't hold back his indignation, fists flying to his sides to dig into the ripped leather seats to ground himself to the car and control his anger.</p><p>"I was trying to help! You know I can do this, but you never listen to me!" </p><p>Tony's voice faded for a moment to stare in stupefied shock, having never experienced an outburst quite like this from Peter. The boy's face was beet red, most likely from the intensity of his frustration and anger, his eyes narrowed and flaming as he continued to crush the sides of his seat.</p><p>"All I ever do is try to help and you just treat me like a kid!"</p><p>Tony felt his temper flare like a peacock's feathers and he turned back to the road, afraid of throttling the kid if he didn't promptly shift his focus to something less troublesome. </p><p>He, however, would not let the insolence go unaddressed.</p><p>"You are a kid! You're a fifteen-year-old child!" His next words pushed their way through gritted teeth. "You can't handle a bomb when you're hardly ready to handle college, Parker!"</p><p>"I can handle it! Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I can't handle being a superhero! I stopped a supervillain! In the sky!"</p><p>Tony distantly heard the leather squeak in protest from the abuse it suffered under Peter's fists. However, he hardly processed this over the roaring of blood in his eardrums, the vein in his temple steadily throbbing.</p><p>"That's different!"</p><p>Despite the rebuttal, Peter continued to push the issue. "I held a boat together with my bare hands!"</p><p>Tony's shoulders were as tight as violin strings. "Until I had to bail you out!"</p><p>"I stopped an elevator crash at the fucking Washington monument!"</p><p>The millionaire turned his head hard enough to give himself whiplash and gave the kid a stern glare, eyes wide with a silent warning. "Language, Parker!" He groaned and faced the road, squeezing his nose bridge in annoyance as he realized just who he had unintentionally mimicked. </p><p>Quickly, Tony diverted the subject. "An elevator crash is a hell of a lot different from a fifty story building crashing on your skull!" He smacked his palm against the steering wheel to drive his point home, or to take out his frustrations. One or the other. He pointed a stern finger in Peter's direction, despite the gesture feeling quite silly. "Whether or not you were ready is irrelevant because I told you no!"</p><p>From a quick glance, he could see the boy practically vibrating in rage, staring down at the floor of the car before throwing his head up towards Tony, eyes nearly spilling over with tears of frustration as he made a final attempt at rebutting his guardian.</p><p>"But it is the same thing! I go out and stop bad guys every single day just like you! If you had just listened to me and let me try to defuse the bomb, I could have done it!" His arms were trembling wildly, his fingers starting to dig into the leather, slowly splitting the fabric and revealing the foam underneath.</p><p>"And it is relevant because I am ready for this!" The sound of threads snapping filled the brief pause as he delivered an ultimatum. "You're just too stupid to realize that!"<br/>
 <br/>
Rip!</p><p>There was a sharp tearing sound as Peter's fingers ripped off chunks of leather from both sides of the seat, leaving his hands filthy with a mess of leather and foam. The silence that followed this outburst was deafening enough to drown out even the gentle hum of the engine as they sat there with eyes tightly locked. Tony felt every muscle in his upper body tighten as rage and shock gripped him in their strong grasp and the look in his eyes darkened. </p><p>Peter's own brown eyes, however, quickly lost their flame and his fingers went limp, letting the scraps of car seat flutter to the floor as his mouth dropped open slightly in shock at his own actions. Clearly, the insult was a slip of the tongue in the heat of the moment and the kid was already regretting his actions as he watched Tony stiffen in fury.</p><p>"M-Mr. Stark, I-I didn't..."</p><p>Tony whipped his head back to the interstate, trying to control his shaking hands which gripped the wheel tight as a symptom of his anger. He raised a finger to Peter once more in an unspoken signal to be silent, afraid of losing his already smoking temper. </p><p>"Not another word, Parker..."</p><p>Finally, showing a shred of sense, Peter fell silent, looking forward with his hands folded in his lap as he twiddled his thumbs with an intensely panicked expression. Tony kept his eyes on the street, taking deep intakes of breath to try and calm himself as they drove along the long stretch of road, the sun sinking below the horizon and drenching the land in pure black with scattered patches of glowing orange spilling from street lamps. </p><p>The rest of the ride to the facility was spent in tense, awkward silence, the only sounds to fill the suffocating void being the roll of the tires and the rumble of the engine. Thirty minutes of deep breathing and calming down seemed to drag for hours until they were finally rolling up to the gate to check-in and parking in the driveway of their section of the compound. The car slowed to a halt in front of a tall sectioned off building; the domestic housing for each Avenger to take advantage of whenever they desired. The tower loomed over them imposingly but glowed a comforting light that eased some of his agitated tension.</p><p>Tony pulled the key from the ignition with a sigh, effectively shutting off the car and bringing the humming engine to a standstill. Peter jumped at the sudden movement, sizing up his guardian with careful, curious eyes. The millionaire gave no response, ignoring his ward rather coldly as he climbed out of the van, shutting the car door a tad more forcefully than what was deemed necessary and making a beeline for the front door, barely noticing the frazzled teen stumbling behind him. Just as he was about to enter his key code, however, he paused, giving Peter a short, simple command. </p><p>"Just head straight to your room, kid. No detours. No distractions." He paused, swallowing thickly and taking a short breath. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."</p><p>Tony took the lack of response as sullen agreement and obedient acknowledgment, the meek silence spurring him on to tap in his key and let the door slide open, strolling through the door and making a beeline for the elevator. After punching in yet another number they rose to the corresponding floor, where their rooms and belongings lay. The living room was fairly plain, having a dark grey sofa and a matching arm chair with a dark rug and a white coffee table where various reading materials lay. The living space connected to a small kitchenette, loaded with a fridge, a stove, a microwave, and other appliances as well as a sink. The millionaire made a beeline for the stainless steel refrigerator whose chrome gleamed brightly with the promise of a sharp scotch and a clearer head. His young unruly ward split from his side, regaining enough rebellious spirit to stomp off to his room as opposed to his usual lighter steps, slamming the door hard enough to release a sharp bang.</p><p>The second Peter retreated to his room, disappearing behind a wooden, oak door, Tony let out a long sigh, gripping the handle of the fridge and letting the stiffness bleed out of his muscles, feeling less enraged and more weary from the confrontation. </p><p>Tony quickly swung the door open and grabbed the first bottle of intoxicating liquid he could find, feeling a stab of guilt for turning to his liquid comfort once more, but needing to feel the warm burn of a drink after the day he had just endured. His muscles screamed from overuse after the day's incident while his mind pounded from the intensity of the argument between him and his ward. He couldn't pour that glass fast enough and the man groaned in relief as he plopped himself down into one of three soft, padded bar stools, bringing the amber liquid to his lips and taking a lazy sip.</p><p>He had never seen Peter in such a state.</p><p>Tony grimaced and set the crystal glass down on the counter, staring into it absently as his mind wandered to the troubled teen. Indeed, this was a side of the kid he'd had yet to glimpse. Of course, he had seen an emotional Peter Parker more than once. The teen had gotten into his fair share of mixups in the past and had naturally disobeyed once or twice as all young boys did. However, never to this degree. </p><p>Disobedience normally entailed staying out for patrol a tad bit over curfew or experimenting in the lab when instructed to stay on task. This was so much more than that. This was brazen, blatant disobedience. Peter directly defied his crystal clear commands at nearly every turn, putting hundreds of lives at risk and almost stopping his heart on many occasion. Even afterward, in the van, the boy continued to push with an outburst that he hadn't seen the likes of since that autumn day on the roof. Then that haphazard insult... </p><p>The superhero frowned deeply, tracing the rim of his glass with a sluggish finger, now damp with condensation. This was new behavior, even for a teenage boy, who was starting to seem more spoiled than spirited as he once did.</p><p>A pit slowly grew in the older man's gut at a sudden realization and he groaned in trepidation and dread, letting his head fall forward and thud firmly against the counter (though this did no favors for his aching skull). In addition to Peter adopting the attitude of a spunky five-year-old, he now had to confront him about it and make good on his word. </p><p>"'We'll talk about this later.' Damn it! What was I thinking!" </p><p>Tony curled a fist against the counter and thumped it against the marble surface in frustration, glaring sharp, metal daggers at his unassuming glass, it's amber liquid swaying lightly from the disturbance. </p><p>Truthfully, the older man had made such a promise out of mere habit, remembering his own father uttering that phrase an obscene amount in his younger days. However, despite how sure of his decision Tony had sounded at the time, he had no idea what he planned to say or do with the audacious teen. Though he had been Peter's guardian for some time, the topic of lecture or punishment had never come about. Normally, all that was needed to subdue the teen was a stern look or a gentle warning. Now it seemed his methods were coming back to bite him directly in the ass and drag him to hell.</p><p>Tony grunted under his breath and took another long sip of his scotch, the ice rolling around noisily as the liquor slowly emptied from the glass. Though it would take much more to ever make him truly intoxicated, it certainly took the edge off the frustration and made things feel a bit softer than they once had. He let out a small sigh of relief, pushing his glass to the corner of the counter and resting his cheek against the cool marble surface, letting his eyes drift shut in thought. </p><p>It did seem that he was going to have to be harsher than he once was and considering his leniency in the past, he was going to have to make quite the impression. Though, he had no idea how to punish a child, let alone a superhero teenager with impossible super strength.</p><p>Tony let his eyes slide open to stare harshly at the wall, a small idea pinging in the back of his mind.</p><p>He needed some advice, and though it would be pretty humbling to crawl to her for guidance, he seemed to have no other option. His phone felt slightly heavier in his pocket and Tony sighed deeply, going to grab it and pick it up to dial. However, after flinching from the bright, stabbing light, the numbers twelve and thirty burned themselves into his irises. </p><p>Tomorrow. He would call tomorrow.</p><p>Feeling bones pop that he didn't know he had, Tony pushed himself from the table and dragged his carcass to the sink to rinse his glass and drop it on a small drying rack before sulking off to bed, feeling exceptionally out of his league for the first time in many, many years.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Blinding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The sun blazed through the window, curtains left open by a tipsy, tired fool by night. Tony groaned under his breath, rolling over in his soft bed and hiding his face in his pillow to avoid the blinding daggers stabbing at his retinas. His muscles ached in protest, sending a dull, throbbing pain throughout his body, and with the aches and pains came a steady flow of memories from the previous day, making him wish he would simply melt into the bed and disappear to avoid confronting that day's failures. </p><p>A small remembrance pinged at the back of his brain and elicited a shocked hiss from the philanthropist, whose head shot up with a tired grimace. </p><p>Right... Parker.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Despite every muscle in his body screaming in resistance, he took a breath and with a long groan, rolled himself out of bed, gently scratching at his chin and stretching out his jaw in a wide, tired yawn as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. As much as he wanted to completely avoid anything to do with yesterday's incident as much as possible, that just wasn't a viable option. He had promised a discussion. A discussion they had to have regardless of his trepidation on the matter.</p><p>Tony slowly stood and quickly began his morning routine. However, his mind was on more than just brushing his teeth and picked out which tie to wear for the day. In fact, most of his focus was trained heavily on the digital clock next to him, waiting for a time that seemed polite enough to drop a casual phone call. Despite his casual flippant nature with most women, May was a force to be reckoned with and he would prefer not to incur her wrath if he could avoid it, as did most men. </p><p>Deciding against a tie as he did not plan on leaving the compound for most of the day, he finished buttoning his shirt and rolled his shoulders to relieve some tension, closing his eyes and heaving a sigh through his nose in preparation.</p><p>The millionaire shuffled his way over to his bed and plopped down on the edge, pulling his phone out of his pocket and staring at the screen blankly as it lit up with a gentle glow, the light being less painful the longer he was alert. The lock screen seemed daunting in the face of what he was about to do.</p><p>He let out a harsh breath and hung his head. There was one thing he needed to do first as a precaution.</p><p>"Friday." </p><p>There was a small beeping sound from the ceiling intercom before a chipper voice filled the room. </p><p>"Yes, sir?"</p><p>Tony rubbed a palm over his face in exhaustion, looking up at the ceiling as though the disembodied voice even had a location. </p><p>"I need you to give a message to the kid. Tell Parker that he's to stay in his room and to only come out for food or restroom purposes."</p><p>There were multiple factors motivating this decision. He didn't want Peter wandering in while he discussed his future punishment with Aunt May for one. However, though this was more of subconscious thought, he was also prolonging their conversation for as long as he could, feeling a wave of dread every time the thought emerged. </p><p>"Of course, I shall deliver your message right away, sir."</p><p>Somehow Friday's chipper voice took the edge off the nervousness and he let himself relax slightly before drawing the phone to his ear, having had May on speed dial for some time. The cell phone gave a couple of dull trills, signaling their connection before a nervous, shrill voice exploded from the speaker, causing Tony to nearly rip the phone from his ear in pain.</p><p>"Stark? What's wrong? Is Peter okay? What did you do? I swear to god if you got my kid hurt in some lab accident I-"</p><p>Tony rushed to put any suspicions to rest, not wanting to let her imagination grow any wilder. "May. May! The kid's fine! Relax! Take a breath for Christ's sake!"</p><p>There was a pause on the line as May was cut off and she fell silent for a moment. Tony could hear her take a deep breath and sigh before beginning to speak once more.</p><p>"Sorry. It's just a bit abnormal to get a phone call from you. Usually, it's Peter who calls to check-in, but he's been off the grid since yesterday after you picked him up from school, then that building crash happened and I know he's okay because of the news report but I didn't get even a text from Peter and I just thought..."</p><p>Once again the woman began talking up a storm and he cleared his throat, signally her rambling comments. May once again fell silent with a quick apology, sounding far more exasperated and tired than her usual, spunky self. Once again, she let out a sharp breath, getting straight to the point.</p><p>"Okay, well, I know this isn't a courtesy call. You wouldn't call unless it was extremely important. So what's up?"</p><p>Tony grimaced, now falling silent in turn as his brain tried to churn up ways to explain his predicament properly. His focus was so intense, in fact, that he hardly noticed the stomping of feet down the hall until his door flew open, an agitated and wound up teen gritting his teeth and clenching his fists in the doorway, his brown eyes narrowed and tearful while his dark hair ran wild.</p><p>"Mr. Stark, I'm fifteen! You can't just make me stay in my room like a little ki-!"</p><p>The older man couldn't hold back a short groan, hanging his head as he held the phone away from his ear to deal with the screeching mass that had entered his bedroom. He snapped his head up sternly, eyes narrowed into aggressive, glinting slits.</p><p>"Kid, go back to your room! I mean it!" His voice carried a subtle bite to it, not quite escalated yet but holding a tone of irritation and warning. Peter, however, didn't take too kindly to this deterrent and crossed his arms stubbornly, planting his feet firmly in the doorway.</p><p>"No! You can't treat me like this! I'm tired of you acting like-!"</p><p>Feeling his irritation intensify at the defiance, Tony pointed a harsh finger out the doorway, setting the phone down flat on the bed to pay more attention to the rebellious spider. </p><p>"Parker! Room! Now!"</p><p>The boy huffed and swung his fists down back to his sides, swiveling around on his heel and grabbing the door handle forcefully, letting the door slam shut behind him with a loud bang that echoed throughout the room. The millionaire's body instantly relaxed, the tension melting away as he went to pick up the phone where May waited patiently.</p><p>Though, the kid still had a sliver of spirit and a complete absence of sense left within him as the door slid open once more with a creak and less force than before but the same annoyance and irritation evident on his features. </p><p>"Mr. Stark, come on, I-!"</p><p>Tony's temper, however, had reached it's limit and before the teen could utter out even a single sentence, he had pushed himself off the bed and was looming threateningly before Peter, halfway across the room but still seeming as vicious as a grizzly bear with a finger once again jabbing in the brunette's direction. </p><p>"Peter Benjamin Parker!"</p><p>Once the middle name made an appearance, Peter finally managed to take the overt hint and scurried from the room like a scared cat in a dark alley, but not without fitting in a final boom from the oak door which in turn released a small crackling noise that made Tony cringe, knowing the sheet of wood was most likely split in many places after that glorious display. Damn super strength...</p><p>Feeling his mood further dragged down to the dumps, he once again picked up his cell phone, putting it up to his ear with a small grimace.</p><p>"May? You there?"</p><p>There was a split second of silence before a shocked voice floated through the speaker.</p><p>"Well... That was new."</p><p>Tony felt his hopes be dashed at her surprise and groaned under his breath, pinching his nose bridge in irritation and hopelessness.</p><p>"Not really the response I was hoping for." He lowered his hand to the bed, wiping it down his face as though trying to wipe away his agitation. </p><p>"What's going on?" May's voice was laced with concern, far different from her initially frazzled, panicked tone.</p><p>"I have no idea. The kid has been having some sort of colossal meltdown since... yesterday. Everything I tell him to do, he does the exact opposite. I've completely lost control of this kid, May."</p><p>A long sigh sounded from the other end. "I can see that. I've never seen him so wound up. Did something happen?"</p><p>"Yeah... I guess it did..."</p><p>"Did he do something wrong?"</p><p>Tony let out a bitter sounding chuckle. "Non-stop since last night." His smile dropped and his shoulders slumped slightly. "I honestly don't know what to do in this situation."</p><p>She let out a chuckle as well, though sounding depressed as opposed to bitter. "Afraid of being the bad guy?"</p><p>Though he couldn't be seen, he nodded glumly. May seemed to take his silence as confirmation, letting out a knowing hum. </p><p>"Trust me, I get it."</p><p>"How do I deal with this, May? I've never even babysat, let alone been a guardian. It's not like I can just shake a finger and make him cooperate anymore. He's gone pretty far off the reservation..."</p><p>May once again sighed, the phone shifting slightly against her cheek as evident by the muffled interference. "I wish I knew what to tell you. I haven't seen him act this way since before his uncle..." There was a forlorn, knowing silence. "...well, even then, I wasn't really in charge of his discipline. That was always Ben."</p><p>Tony could hear the grieving sadness in her voice and knew better than to pursue the topic of the uncle, knowing enough from what Peter had filled him in on. Asking questions about past discipline, however, had the potential to further his efforts.</p><p>"Well, what was Ben's M-O...?"</p><p>May went quiet for a couple of seconds, most likely in thought. </p><p>"Well, Peter has always been a good kid, so we usually could avoid having to punish him, but every once in a while..." May paused, seeming hesitant for a moment before continuing her thought. "Well, Ben usually tried to stick with grounding or scolding him. Sometimes, he would give him a spanking if it was really serious but..."</p><p>"But...?" Tony pushed for an answer, eyebrow raised in curiosity.</p><p>"Well... around his freshman year, he stopped responding to it. He would react in the moment, but afterward it would have no effect on his behavior. So we just kinda phased it out. Then, after his uncle died, his behavior did a complete one-eighty and I just never saw the need to punish him. Haven't even had to ground him since then."</p><p>Tony couldn't help but give a small smirk at the boy's cheek. The spider accident had given the kid every child's dream. Spanking immunity. He shook his head, smile fading as the seriousness of the situation once again set in. As he tuned back in, he heard May give a small gasp of realization.</p><p>"Actually, there was one other time..."</p><p>Tony hummed in curiosity.</p><p>"Well, a couple of months following Ben's death, he started having these massive temper tantrums without much of a cause. He would just fly off the rails at the flip of a switch."</p><p>Tony nodded sharply. "Yep. Sounds familiar."</p><p>"I just ignored the tantrums as they came and didn't give him the attention he was looking for. They just sort of faded over time and he started behaving like an adult."</p><p>Tony grunted in acknowledgment, rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully. "So you think if I ignore his outbursts, they'll just fade off like that?"</p><p>May made a small indifferent murmur, presumably nodding in agreement. "Most likely, it doesn't hurt to try."</p><p>Tony frowned, his hand freezing in place on his neck as a thought struck him. "And... if it doesn't...?"</p><p>There was another pause. </p><p>"Well, cross that bridge when you get to it, I guess."</p><p>The man let out a gentle breath, humming in agreement before glancing at the time. It had been around an hour since May had picked up the phone and at that rate he would be having brunch as opposed to breakfast. Tony pushed himself off the bed with a groan, straightening out his shirt and stretching out his muscles.</p><p>"Alright, well I need to get going before I wither away into nothing. Didn't get any dinner in my system last night."</p><p>May chuckled in response to his quip, shifting as well. "Me too, but keep me updated, Stark." </p><p>"Will do." Tony began to lower the phone to hang up before he heard May's voice float from the speaker one last time. </p><p>"And Tony...?"</p><p>Tony raised the phone once more. "Yeah, May?"</p><p>"Just be careful... Peter's a good kid and he really looks up to you."</p><p>The man couldn't help a small smile from reaching his lips and he nodded promptly. "I will. I'll keep you posted."</p><p>There was a small click on the other end and Tony took the phone away from his ear, feeling distinctly troubled, but feeling more at ease than he had felt before. The man once again thought over what he had been told. To ignore the tantrums until they subsided and wait for Peter to talk to him like an adult. As confident as he wanted to feel in this plan, there was something within him that rolled with unease. Something that said these outbursts wouldn't fade so easily. However, it was his best option, and he had to stick with it. If all else failed and things grew worse then... well, he would figure it out.</p><p>The man slipped his phone from his hand onto the bed as he leaned back and felt his spine pop in the most satisfying way imaginable. A long sigh slipped from his lips as he retreated from his room while ignoring the crackling wooden door, bare feet padding against the floor as he made his way over to his lab. He'd burnt enough daylight rolling out of bed and chittering on the phone and there was a fresh suit waiting downstairs that was screaming his name. The scientist slid on the slip-on shoes he reserved for his lab and began shuffling down the stairs, a small smile on his face as he descended, looking forward to a day of engineering to get his mind off...</p><p>Tony froze at the end of the stairs, staring blankly ahead with a small glare.</p><p>...the kid.</p><p>Peter stood like a deer in the headlights before him, one arm holding the lab fridge open and the other with an arm full of various snacks, such as a couple of sticks of string cheese and a couple of apples nestled comfortably in the crook of his arm. He was also far from where he was supposed to be. Tucked away in his room. Tony felt a small bud of anger bloom within him at this clear push of temper, clenching the handrail of the stairs tight for a brief moment. </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Tony closed his eyes and released the rail, letting his nerves settle down as he reminded himself of his one goal. To ignore the tantrums and let them fade until the kid was ready to talk.</p><p>Keeping his intense gaze off the kid and fixed on his workbench, he strode over to the table where his project was strewn about the surface in organized chaos. Tony plopped down in his work chair, grabbing the nearest piece and beginning to tinker with it lightly and look as though he was busy. Glancing up briefly, he saw Peter's face collapse from fear into a look of confusion and frustration, most likely from the lack of response from his guardian. Huffing lightly, the boy skulked from the lab, pounding up the stairs and slamming the door for the third time that day.</p><p>Tony sighed and let the tension once again dissolve from his body, setting down his project to take a moment to breathe. That was easier than he expected. He'd expected more of a fight out of the kid, considering his previous outbursts. However, he would take what he could get. </p><p>He reached forward and pulled his laptop closer, opening some programs and beginning to hook up two separate pieces to the machine to run some time-consuming tests so he could be free to grab some breakfast as they proceeded. However, as he began typing away at the keyboard, he heard a small creak from behind him with footsteps quickly approaching him from behind.</p><p>Peter's tense form passed him quickly and the brunette swung the fridge open once more, reaching inward and rifling around through it's contents. Tony felt his eyes once again narrow into a small glare, feeling suspicious, but attempting indifference. The boy turned and gave him a determined stare before pulling out a soda and kicking the fridge door shut gently with his shoe, rushing back past him and retreating out the door with a signature boom! </p><p>The millionaire felt a muscle in his lower eyelid twitch in response. However, he took a deep breath and turned back to his laptop, continuing his task. With a couple of clicks of a few keys, two progress bars popped up on the glowing screen and the brightly colored leg pieces sprung to life, radiating a gentle blue light as their faint whirrs filled the room. Pushing himself up from the table, he then made his way over to the kitchen area for himself, pulling open the door of the fridge and rifling around for breakfast ideas. Though, judging by the harshness of the sun, it was looking more like brunch. </p><p>Deciding that he felt like pancakes, Tony reached into the chilled fridge and pulled out the half a carton of eggs along with a stick of butter and a small bag of strawberries. Normally, he would just dig into a box of leftover take out. However, he felt like he needed a change. Something new to take his mind off things. The man went to grab the carton of milk as well but found himself struggling with the sheer amount of ingredients and elected to dump his food haul on the kitchen counter.</p><p>Setting his ingredients on the counter, he knelt down behind the kitchen island and pulled open the cabinets, grabbing a couple of bowls, a plate, and an iron skillet to work with. However, before he could even come back above the edge of the counter, the small squeak of his lab door once again hit his ears, causing him to instantly grit his teeth and pause, closing his eyes and praying that the door simply slid open of it's own accord. However, he found himself to be sorely disappointed as his gaze broke the edge of the counter to be met with the sight of Peter, who was once again rushing to the fridge with purpose, looking increasingly more agitated. </p><p>Tony kept himself occupied by slamming the bowls on the counter and turning his back to wash his hands at the stainless steel sink, keeping his gaze off the angsty young teen. As the cool water spilled over his fingers, he heard Peter's signature huff, stomp, and bang, before blessed silence befell the lab once more. With this silence, the man groaned in irritation, bowing his head and trying to fend off the mounting headache in his temple as he turned off the sink and dried his damp hands. At this rate, all the doors in the compound are going to be demolished. </p><p>The millionaire sighed deeply and finally turned towards the fridge to grab the milk he had previously been unable to juggle. He rushed over and opened the fridge with purpose and a hopeful glint in his eye to find...</p><p>... the milk was gone.</p><p>A moment went by as he processed the mysterious disappearance of his precious dairy and his gaze remained locked in dumbfounded disappointment before the realization hit.</p><p>"That little...!"</p><p>Peter took the milk. He walked in and took a full gallon of milk from the laboratory fridge. As opposed to making use of the two full, fresh containers in the kitchen fridge, he purposefully came down an entire flight of stairs just to grab my carton of milk.</p><p>Tony's hand tightened across the fridge's handle and he slammed it shut with a loud swear, quite reminiscent of a certain angsty teen across the hall.</p><p>"Damn it!"</p><p>Tony, however, managed to calm himself with yet another deep breath, wiping a tired hand over his forehead and whipping around to face his mess, ready to clear off the cluttered counter. Maybe he didn't need change, maybe he just needed comfort food. More of the same. </p><p>Cold takeout it is then.</p><p>The superhero couldn't help but grumble to himself as he skulked about the kitchen, shoving his ingredients back into their rightful shelves and practically flinging the dishes back into their cabinets, coming up with a multitude of colorful swears along the way. He quickly followed this up by reaching into the fridge and pulling out a small box of leftover Chinese food, grabbing a fork and grumpily shoveling lo mien into his mouth while stomping back over to his patiently waiting project, which hummed and glowed unassumingly atop the metal workbench. </p><p>He knew what Peter was doing. It was painfully obvious. The boy was pushing his patience as far as it would go to attempt to pull a reaction out of him, just as he did with his aunt. But he wouldn’t allow it. He wasn’t going to cave over milk and apples. He had more tolerance than that. He was able to maintain a stony expression in the face of smug politicians for hours. He could handle a disrespectful brat for longer than this. This is what he told himself as he drilled screws in with slightly more force than necessary and nearly knocked the iron leg clear off the table.  </p><p>However, the sound of a door creaking open assaulted his ears like ice pick drilling his skull and he had to hold his breath to avoid groaning out his frustrations as Peter predictably shuffled through the door, eyeing him nervously with flippant defiance strong in his expression. Tony stared harshly at his drill, fiddling with it absently and kicking his feet up on the tabletop as Peter once again glided over to the fridge and rummaged through it before slamming it shut and pointed stared directly at his mentor as he made his way back to the metal door. Tony spared a glance upward, and his chest seized while his brow twitched violently at the sight that hit his eyes. Seeing his guardian's reaction, Peter gave a small shit-eating smirk and popped the offending fruit in his mouth before retreating through the door and up the stairs with loud, pounding steps.</p><p>A grape. The kid grabbed one grape. A singular fucking grape.</p><p>Tony slammed the drill down on the table, feeling his patience promptly run dry. </p><p>“God damn brat!” </p><p>He pushed himself up from the table, roughly knocking the chair on it’s side as he rushed towards the unassuming door, fists swinging back and forth at his sides in clenched fury as he marched over and swung open the door, racing up the stairs with murder on his mind. He was sick and tired of sucking up Peter’s behavior and letting the boy walk all over him with his tantrums and bad attitude. He only had so much tolerance and it had run out. It was the grape that broke Tony’s back. He hadn’t a clue of what he was going to do or say, but he knew he was going to shake some sense into the brat and was willing to do whatever necessary to accomplish that.</p><p>He swung around the corner as he reached the top of the staircase and stalked down the hallway towards Peter’s door, growling under his breath as he noticed a carton of milk perched innocently on the coffee table in the center of the living space. The boy had a functioning pair of legs and yet the four steps to the fridge escaped him? Grumbling under his breath at this discovery, he grabbed the doorknob and swung open the boy’s door, mouth snapping open to start verbally scorching the daring teen who stared wide eyed and shocked from his desk, surrounded by his food haul. </p><p>As if on cue, Friday’s voice floated from the com above them, interrupting the conflict brewing dangerously hot before her.</p><p>“Mr. Stark, there is an urgent call for you on the line.” </p><p>The tension floated in the air above them and Tony scowled, glowering at the ceiling towards his AI. “It can wait, Friday. I’m a bit busy.”</p><p>“I do not believe so. The call is from the sheriff’s department. There is another bomb crisis, this time on the subway line underneath Manhattan. They believe this is related to the previous incident.” </p><p>The tension was replaced with a chilled atmosphere as Tony and Peter both paled in horror before shifting to urgency as Tony flew into action, swearing under his breath and pivoting on his heel towards his balcony. This conversation would have to wait. </p><p>He heard the patter of footsteps behind him before Peter suddenly materialized by his side, grabbing his arm. “Tony! Wait up! Let me-“</p><p>Tony shook off his ward’s hand and turned with a look of utmost seriousness, no longer messing around or tolerating the kid’s recklessness. “No. Absolutely not. You’re staying in the tower where it’s safe.”</p><p>Peter’s face twisted in anger and Tony knew he was about to be treated to another tantrum. He preemptively grabbed the boy’s chin in a firm hold, forcing him to meet his gaze. The teen went silent, staring up at his adoptive father with wide eyes and a squished grimace.</p><p>“I. Said. No. No sneaking out, no following me, no attitude. You stay here and wait for me to get back. Capisce?”</p><p>Peter swallowed and slowly nodded his understanding and Tony released the kid from his firm hold, watching the boy step backward and rub his chin with a forlorn glare.</p><p>Tony set this aside and turned away, pressing a finger to the bracelet wrapped around his wrist and letting the nanotech envelope his body. Walking over to the balcony, he let himself drop off the platform, his stomach lurching in free fall momentarily before he activated his thrusters and flew off, pulling up recent news reports and praying that he got there on time, while also silently hoping for Peter to obey his orders.</p><p>This proved to be a fool’s errand, and he only wished he had noticed the boy making determined haste towards his suit, throwing on his mask, suit, and web-shooters before slinging off to follow his trail. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Remember</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Darkness was all Tony could grasp from the confines of his iron suit as he made his way through narrow service tunnels, a dull light illuminating his feet as he slowly shuffled his way through the halls, feeling paranoia and panic ebb at the edges of his mind. He, however, took advantage of this feeling to be on higher alert as he combed the catacombs while searching for whatever Friday had previously detected as a high magnetic pulse. According to the tips and reports he received from authorities, the bombs were contained in a small cart and were being transported through the normal routes before they lost track of the perpetrator near an old abandoned depot with miles of abandoned track and service tunnels. So, he made his way down the twisting and turning service tracks, a small GPS blinking in the corner of his view to signal his location and the location of what could be the runaway cart.</p><p>Despite the suffocating darkness surrounding him, he was given the opportunity to think over what he was going to do about the spider boy sitting idly by in his room, waiting for his guardian to come back safely and make some sort of decision on his discipline. Though he did his best to simply ignore the tantrums and fits, his patience wore thin, and the only reason his temper was at bay was the privacy and silence the winding tunnels provided. </p><p>The boy was pushing him. That much was clear. When he began ignoring the behavior, it seemed to frustrate Peter into escalating his misbehavior in search of some sort of reaction, and Tony could only wonder what would placate the young man into satisfaction. </p><p>Tony grimaced, shaking his head slightly as he mentally scanned over the previous night's events leading up to now. It seemed that the longer he ignored the behavior, the worse it became. Yet he failed to see a solution past what he’d already attempted thus far. Lecturing only seemed to work short term and grounding the boy only presented him with a challenge to conquer rather than firm boundaries. He could assign Peter chores, or make him write something long and winded, but he doubted Peter would commit and he would probably look for loopholes or simply refuse. And with the kid’s super strength, physical punishment just wasn’t a viable option. </p><p>With a dull grimace, his brain wandered to more dangerous territory as he remembered a certain man who would probably know exactly what to do. The man who had attempted to raise him and was more stubborn than he and Peter combined. His father had certainly taken him to hand more than once and had the stature of a man who handled no bullshit, and in Tony’s early life, was able to silence him with a glare. However, Howard Stark was dead. Corrupted by alcohol and murdered in cold blood by a brainwashed assassin and his once ally’s best friend.</p><p>His grimace further deepened as another face rose to the light with this train of thought. Steve, too, would have a more simple approach to something this difficult. Being from an age of much sterner discipline, he would probably take Peter in hand with far more ease than it took Tony to even consider a viable punishment, as Steve tended to do on a regular basis. Tony shook the man from his thoughts, feeling bitterness rise up from the back of his throat and picking up his pace a bit, staring forlornly at the ground.</p><p>Tony’s mind felt just as lost as he did when wandering down a tunnel with no end.</p><p>He heard the pinging of his GPS quicken and he picked up his pace, glancing at the red indicative dot that steadily grew closer with each step. </p><p>“Wha… Shit!”</p><p>Suddenly, he felt a strong tugging sensation. As though his entire body was being pulled in one constant direction, forward. Suddenly, he felt himself rise up in the air and he flies mid-air for one brief moment before slamming into what feels like a large metal plate perched on the wall and the ceiling at a diagonal angle. </p><p>“Son of a bitch!”</p><p>“For such a successful businessman, you have quite the mouth. Quite uncouth, if I do say so.”</p><p>The voice was eerily familiar and Tony froze, slowly maneuvering his head too just barely glance behind him. Below him, finally presenting herself out of the thick blackness with a bright electric lantern was a familiar redhead with a thick British accent. She was covered in soot and around her hands and wrists were rusted, yet heavy-looking metal strips wrapped around her hands in heavy spirals. Her eyes were a striking blue that peered at him mischievously from the ground, sending chills down his spine.</p><p>“Of course, neither of us are who we appear to be, are we, Mr. Stark?”</p><p>Tony narrowed his eyes and grimaced, trying to figure out where he had seen this woman before. Everything about her seemed familiar yet completely wrong and a bubble of anger boiled within him.</p><p>“Who are you... I’ve seen you before…”</p><p>The woman smirked and ran a hand through her hair, her face suddenly shifting to panicked fear and distress while her voice took on a more American tone.</p><p>“He-He must have planted the bombs after hours! I didn’t see anyone suspicious! I’m just the receptionist, sir!”</p><p>It finally clicked with his mind and he grit his teeth with a small growl underneath his breath. </p><p>“You. You were that woman I pulled out of the tower.”</p><p>“Smart boy. You deserve a cookie.” Her twisted feature soon settled back on a more neutral expression. “No one remembers the first face they see in the morning. No one notices when one of those faces goes missing.” A small smirk. “It was rather simple really, I’m surprised more of these girls don’t branch out. We see everything. We’re the only real barrier of safety.” </p><p>Tony would have shaken his head if he could as a snarl twisted his features. “Bullshit, there are security guards crawling those halls!”</p><p>The receptionist, or, assassin, whatever she was, put on a sultry pout, twisting a ginger lock around her finger. “Sir? I left my purse in the building. Could you please let me in? I’d really appreciate it.”</p><p>Tony groaned and rolled his eyes, starting to wriggle around for a way out, despite the strength of the magnetic pull keeping him tightly bound to the wall. “Stone cold bitch…” </p><p>All he received was a giggle in response and he grit his teeth as the sound grated on his eardrums. However, he tried to control his temper in an attempt to reason with her, despite her unstable nature and knowing that there were explosives ready to bury them in a mountain of concrete.</p><p>“Look. What is it you want? Money? Sex? A car? You can have it, just deactivate the-“</p><p> She scoffed, shaking her head and sweeping her hair back behind her shoulder. “You really don’t remember, do you?”</p><p>Tony fell silent in confusion, as he thought he’d already remembered all there was to recall. Yet, she drew closer, bringing the lantern closer to her own face. </p><p>“You’ve seen me before, Mr. Stark. You said so yourself. Tell me. Who am I?”</p><p>Tony paused and glanced behind him, looking at the cryptic women with a closer eye. He noticed things he hadn’t before as the suit enhanced his view. Small signs of aging around her eyes. A deep scar on her jaw. A small mole just below her brow…</p><p>Tony felt his stomach lurch and he held his breath for a moment, his brain catching up with his eyes. “Jesus Christ… Sarah…” </p><p>“There we go. Smart man.” She lowered the lantern, turning away and making her way further down the tunnel, where he noticed the cart of explosives lay. His stomach dropped at the proximity and he swallowed, feeling his palms grow dewey. Crazy strangers, he could deal with. Supervillains were a piece of cake. But crazy ex-girlfriend super-villains were entirely new territory. Especially with her expression implying that she was about ready to dismantle him slowly and painfully in whatever creative ways she could think up.</p><p>“You… You dropped out. I haven’t seen you since… why now? Why-?”</p><p>“Why has your ex-girlfriend from college  rigged over two dozen thermite bombs underneath Stark tower to explode at the push of a button?"</p><p>Tony felt his throat fill with bile in silent horror at the revelation and he swallowed thickly to avoid vomiting, images flashing through his head. Images of his employees crushed beneath several tons of rubble. Of innocent bystanders being caught in the crossfire. Of a brilliant young teen losing his life over Tony's cowardice.</p><p>His jaw clenched and he said nothing, glaring daggers behind his mask as a cold icy hatred pooled in his gut, causing his body to quake from his tensed muscles.</p><p>Despite being concealed by the suit, Sarah seemed to be able to see through the iron exterior and let out a high pitched chuckle at Tony's wound upstate, taking joy in his fear. </p><p>"That's right big boy. And not just Stark Towers. But every building you've thrown your endless stacks of cash at. Every charity within ten miles of here. Every startup. Every affiliate. Every business that has so much as glanced your way." Her grin widened considerably and she waving her fingers through the air. "Kaboom."</p><p>If it was even possible, he paled further, scrambling to take a mental count of every project he had funded. Every partnership. The numbers trickled upwards in his head and his breath caught in his throat as his stared at her grinning, twisted face, his stomach rolling with nausea once more. </p><p>"That's like... half of New York City."</p><p>The redhead put her hands on her hips and nodded sharply, sauntering forward to rest a gentle hand on the suit's foot with a look he could only describe as pure ecstasy.</p><p>"And I can't wait to watch it burn."</p><p>Tony blinked and choked, staring in bewildered disbelief and horror at the woman he had spent his younger years with. The woman he'd shared his apartment, his school life, and his bed with. Sarah separated from him and walked away with a small sway, as though dancing to a song only she could hear, towards a small console that displayed a small map with red dots littering its surface. He grimaced and strained his mind to find some sign of this drastic change in her once gentle demeanor, drawing a frustrating blank.</p><p>"Why? You dumped me! It's been decades! Why now?"</p><p>The redhead whipped around, her face contorted to a look of intense rage as she stormed up to him, grabbing a nearby, abandoned beer can off the ground and lobbing it at the head of his suit with a sharp clang, shoving the lantern high to illuminate the space between them.</p><p>"Don't act like you don't know!"</p><p>Tony froze, though not being able to move much anyhow and stared at his ex's demented features. Her fury shifted to intense amusement and she began to holler with laughter, practically doubling over with joy at his clear ignorance.</p><p>"He doesn't know! Of course!" She straightened up from her hunched stature, putting on a face of false seriousness like a child playing house and moving her arms stiffly in front of her to feign formality. His heart pounded at her unhinged behavior, unable to truly comprehend the sight before him.</p><p>"Why would the Great Tony Stark bother to educate himself on the lives he destroyed? He's got much better things on his tiny mind!"</p><p>She leaned forward, fists on her hips with a devastating glare.</p><p>"Like money! And sex! And alcohol! It's not his baby that was crushed underneath forty pounds of rubble! Not your problem, right? Not when you have to go play hero and stroke your truly astonishing ego!"</p><p>Tony's eyebrows furrowed in confusion momentarily before a small click sounded in his mind and he felt his heart drop in free fall to join his stomach at her unintentional revelation. The breath was knocked out of him and he fell limp, staring at the floor with his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. Baby...? The impossible biology of the concept escaped him and his eyes stung with tears as grief and a numb horror overtook him. </p><p>
  <em>Did I get her pregnant? I was careful! I used protection! What happened to my baby?! Why didn't she say anything?! Why-?!</em>
</p><p>The beer can that hit his forehead kicked his mind back into gear and he jumped, staring forward at her irritated visage.</p><p>"Don't get your knickers in a twist. That baby was mine and mine alone. I did have a life outside of you. Besides, it was less than a decade ago."</p><p>She smirked slightly.</p><p>"Aren't you Starks meant to be intelligent?"</p><p>Despite his lingering shame over the fact, he felt his tension release and he let out a short sigh of relief. Unfortunately, this was slightly louder than intended and triggered a harsh mood swing from the woman before him who snarled and slammed her hand onto the wall beside him.</p><p>"Oh yes, Tony! I'm sure it's all well and good that it wasn't your baby you murdered in cold blood! I'm sure your so relieved that the child you crumbled under a pile of steel wasn't from your filthy seed!"</p><p>Tony felt the shame eat at him and he grit his teeth, pulling at his invisible bonds fruitlessly. </p><p>"For God's sake, what are you talking about?"</p><p>Her expression darkened and she clenched her fist tight against the cold brick. </p><p>"Don't act like you don't know." There was a short pause that aired an untold question and she snarled in frustration, pounding at his foot and screeching with a tone similar to a fork grating against a china plate as he winced.</p><p>"New York! Skyscraper in Manhattan!" She sneered up at him with tears welling in her glassy eyes. "I moved on! I had a husband! I had a baby! And you knew! You knew I was in there and you destroyed it! I lost my job! I lost my home! I lost my family! I lost my baby! You ruined everything!"</p><p>Tony felt things shift into place and he was reminded of a cold hallway and a broken mother lashing him thoroughly with her words. Somehow it felt like poetic justice that he would end up here once again. The wounds he had tried to mend split back open as he stared at the tears flowing down her cherry-red face. </p><p>"I...Sarah, it was war, I couldn't possibly..."</p><p>Sarah snarled and slammed her hand against the brick wall, ignoring the sickening crack that radiated from her hand that caused Tony to wince slightly. </p><p>"Don't treat me like an idiot! You couldn't handle seeing me be happy so you had to take your big fancy suit and destroy everything I ever had! Everything I ever loved! You take and you take and you take and it's never enough for you!"</p><p>Before Tony could even get a word in, she continued, scrubbing her hand across the wall with a wide-eyed stare and smearing blood on the bricks beside him without so much as a whimper. Only an unsettling grin.</p><p>"And then you buy every building in the vicinity so I have to see your snarky mug wherever I turn! Mocking me! Torturing me with what was within my reach but I can never again have! Success! Family! Security! You're never satisfied with what you have and keep taking to satiate your hunger for power over those smaller than you, regardless of the consequences!"</p><p>Tony snarled and shouted in pure fury, pulling at his bonds and glaring daggers at her frazzled expression. He'd heard it all before. None of these accusations were new to him. However, things were different when the accusations were based on lies and it frustrated him to his core. "What do you want?! Do you want to kill me! Do whatever you want but don't take it out on them!"</p><p>Her grin widened as she bared her teeth.</p><p>"Not this time! Everything has consequences, Tony! I'm going to tear your life to pieces! I'm going to turn your legacy to ash and I'm going to make you watch your precious city crumble around you! And I'll keep going! Everything you own! Every city you've disgraced with your presence! I'm going to wipe the great name of Tony Stark of the map!" </p><p>She chuckled, lifting her hand to his calf and stroking it in an almost loving manner and smearing her blood across its metallic surface. "Then, I'll kill you. And I promise. I'll make it hurt." She lowered her hand to her stomach, clutching at her shirt. </p><p>"You offered her the same courtesy."</p><p>Under normal circumstances, this would have hit Tony like a ton of bricks. The promise of death and the threat of never seeing Peter again might have sent him into hysterics. However, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of two colors that simultaneously filled him with joy and dread. He let out a shaky breath and his eyes popped open wide with hope and a slight tinge of fear streaking his brown irises</p><p>Dammit, kid...</p><p>Slowly, a red and blue figure crept forward, sticking to the wall and moving with silence only Peter could manage. Tony sorely wished for a way to shout out to his ward. Whether it was to beg for him to run or chastise him for yet again endangering himself, he couldn't say. However, to his relief, the boy was smart and he saw the suit's optical sensors zero in on the console with a curious gaze, despite lack of features to give away that impression. The boy looked to his guardian and nodded sharply before inching carefully towards the console.</p><p>However, just as the boy did so, Sarah began growing impatient with his lack of response, knocking her fist onto his iron frame curiously like a door to neighbors home. </p><p>"Knock knock! Anyone in there! Don't be shy, Tony!"</p><p>She giggled like a small child, smirking slightly. </p><p>"You can beg for mercy! I don't mind!"</p><p>Tony scrambled to provide an adequate response to buy his spiderling some time. If he could keep Sarah distracted, they had a shot of getting out of there alive. Just as she scoffed and stepped away, going to turn towards the console, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. </p><p>"I-I have a kid!"</p><p>Sarah froze in her tracks, her muscles rippling as they tensed and she whipped her head back to face Tony with an expression of restrained horror and rage.</p><p>"You're lying..."</p><p>Tony attempted to shake his head, despite being tightly restrained. </p><p>"No! I swear to god, Sarah! He's... He's fifteen, he's in Stark Tower right now! He has nothing to do with this! You'd be killing him too!" Actually Stark Tower had been sold but she didn't need to know that.</p><p>Peter glanced at him from across the room with some unknown emotion flashing across his mask as he slowly lowered himself to the floor, shuffling towards the console. It was gone as quickly as it came and Peter quickly got to work, tapping against the controls inquisitively.</p><p>Sarah began to tremble, grabbing her abdomen as though it was a lifeline and huddling with her knees closer to her chest. "Stop! Stop it! You're a liar! You don't have it in you!"</p><p>Tony could see the intense effect his words had and pushed further in that direction, keeping a close eye on his ward as the boy navigated the console.</p><p>"I swear on my life, it's the truth. He's got brown hair and brown eyes and he's the scrawniest kid I know!" </p><p>Sarah let out another keen like a wounded animal, now clawing at her abdomen through her shirt. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"</p><p>Tony desperately pressed harder, words flowing out of his mouth in a constant stream as the teen continued his silent work.</p><p>"He's... He's frustrating and headstrong and stubborn as a jack ass when he's trying to get his way! He's disobeyed me constantly and throws tantrums and he's constantly giving me a heart attack! He makes me wanna pull all my hair out or drink myself into a coma and half the time I just feel like throwing my hands up and giving up! And sometimes I lose my temper and my goddamn mind because when I feel like I can't control things I lose my shit!"</p><p>"Shut up, shup up, shut up, shut up, shut up!"</p><p>The iron-clad superhero was no longer paying attention to the wailing woman before him, his eyes now squarely on Peter, who had paused in his work and stood frozen, listening to his mentor's desperation with trembling shoulders. Tony was no longer talking to Sarah and he choked slightly as he continued, fighting with his emotion as he reached out, laying his thoughts bare for the kid.</p><p>"But... he's brave, and he's strong and so good... He finds good in everybody and gives everybody a chance... He's never hurt a fly and he does his best to succeed at the things that matter most to him... and even though he drives me absolutely insane sometimes, I wouldn't trade him for the world."</p><p>Peter turned to him inquisitively, trembling slightly in the darkness of the tunnel, and the glow of the console caused Tony to quickly realize that he had momentarily forgotten their position. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a breath before returning his gaze to the weeping mess crumbled on the floor with sharp nails clawing at her stomach.</p><p>"He deserves better than to be crushed under a building for my mistakes. Don't you agree, Sarah? Wouldn't your baby agree?"</p><p>There was a beat of silence with Peter's eyes locked with his, hands limp over the console and the pile of red hair on the floor deathly quiet on the floor. The only sound was Sarah's ragged breathing. </p><p>A light giggle made Tony jump and his skin began to crawl as her laughter slowly grew, going from a giggle, to a chuckle, to throwing her head back into an uproar of laughter, tears sliding down her cheeks from the sheer amusement busting out of her lungs to fill the tense atmosphere.</p><p>Slowly she brought her head back up to hang down, letting her hair cover her face briefly before turning to Tony with a huge smile.</p><p>"Oh honey, I would be thrilled to watch your so-called kid be crushed into a bloody pancake on the pavement."</p><p>Before Tony could respond, his kid cleared his throat, leaning against the console with his hand resting against one of the buttons. Tony and Sarah both whipped their gazes towards him, Sarah tensing as tight as a violin while Tony grit his teeth, staring intensely at his kid.</p><p>What are you doing?</p><p>"Well, as much as we'd all love to see that, I'm afraid I can't let that happen, ma'am."</p><p>Sarah seemed to be hardly breathing at all, as still as a statue as she glared daggers at the Spider themed superhero. Peter seemed undeterred and continued on his snarky jaunt.</p><p>"Usually human pancakes are a bit of a PR issue. The press gets involved, people step in it, and don't get me started on the stains! Dios mio." He waved his hand above the button casually as he spoke and Tony growled, jerking at his bonds.</p><p>"Quit showing off kid and get me out of this!"</p><p>Peter seemed hardly affected but Tony recognized the nervous jump in the kid's shoulders from his harsh tone. Sarah quickly stood up, lantern again in hand, snarling and charging at the boy with both hands reaching for his neck. "No!"</p><p>Peter quickly dodged her attempts and continued to jerk out of the way as she swung the lantern at him, trying to get a good hit on his head, quite unsuccessfully. All throughout this dance, his hand never left the button that would free his mentor. Tony rolled his eyes and sighed at the kid's bravado, knowing that he was merely toying with her and could lay her out easily if he wanted to. Finally, Peter grabbed the lantern, holding it out of her reach.</p><p>"As fun as this is, we really gotta get going. Places to be, people to see!"</p><p>The kid's hand finally slammed down on the button, and a loud hum resonated from the magnet behind Tony before he felt himself slowly slide off of the sheet of metal and fall to the ground with a loud bang as his metal feet slammed against the ground. Finally free. His head snapped up to meet Sarah's enraged face as she went for the console in a fit of panic. Peter easily restrained her even as she flailed and kicked about in his grasp, which was certainly an interesting sight to see a middle-aged woman flailing like a toddler in his ward's grasp.</p><p>Tony stood up and made his way over the console, activating his blaster with one hand and shooting at the wires connected to the console, briefly lighting up the area with a bright flash and a few sparks before the console flickered and went dark, its source of energy officially cut off and the thermite bombs trailing through the tunnels were promptly disabled.</p><p>There was a short pause before Sarah let out an ear-piercing wail as though every nerve in her body had erupted in pain. Peter jumped in shock and his hands went flying to his ears, dropping the distraught woman to the floor. </p><p>Shit!</p><p>The redhead quickly jumped up, turning to Tony with her telltale sneer before whipping around on her heel to run in the opposite direction, clearing aiming for some sort of escape. Tony jumped to attention, alerting his protege with an outburst and a hand aimed in her direction.</p><p>"Peter! Web her up!"</p><p>Peter quickly recovered from the brief sensory overload at his guardian's command and swung around, webbing shooting from his wrists and enveloping the woman before she could get too far. She fell to the ground with a sharp smack and she struggled in her bonds, screaming and swearing at the top of her lungs as the webbing stuck her to the subway floor.</p><p>Now that their two main problems were neutralized, the tension dissolved from the atmosphere, and Tony felt the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body crash quickly. He let out a sharp breath and stumbled as his head reeled. The iron-clad superhero fell to one knee momentarily, taking a few deep breaths, staring at the floor which seemed to twist and turn under him. With a couple of twitches of his fingers, the face mask slipped away and he greedily gulped in the warm air around him, trying to get air into his lungs as sweat beaded on his forehead.</p><p>All Tony could hear was his heart pounding in his ears and he almost didn't notice the teen rushing towards him in panic, hands going to help him up. He held up a trembling hand in the kid's directions, needing a moment to let his panic attack subside. Peter froze, watching his guardian with bated breath, and Tony heard the kid let out a breath of relief as he slowly rose once more, getting his balance back and feeling the panic subside.</p><p>There was a short silence between them and Tony took a moment to calm his racing thoughts and whirlwind of complicated emotions. While he was proud of Peter for the job he did and grateful for the kid's contributions, a bud of anger began to blossom inside his chest like a carnation as thoughts raced across his mind in quick flashes. What had Peter been thinking? He had told him clearly to wait for him at home and specifically instructed him not to follow! What if she had set off the bombs? What if they had died? What if she had a gun? Yet, if it weren't for Peter, they might not all be standing here in one piece. Not to mention that their home would be lying in a pile of rubble. Aside from showing off, Peter had done a fantastic job and he couldn't fight off that glimmer of pride... He ran a hand across his face with a small sigh, feeling a multitude of emotions flash across his face. Anger, exhaustion, frustration, guilt...</p><p>Peter broke the stiff silence, his meek tone cracking as he raised a question.</p><p>"U-Um... Did I do okay...?"</p><p>Tony turned to his ward inquisitively and saw a masked Peter looking up at him, suit optics narrowed and turned upward slightly in a universal signal of nervousness and stress while crossing his arms tight to his chest.</p><p>The billionaire grimaced, but slowly nodded his confirmation, putting on a small, bittersweet smile as he glanced at the teen.</p><p>"Yeah. You did good, Pete."</p><p>There was another pause. Peter staring at the ground and rubbing his neck with tense shoulders.</p><p>"...Are you mad?"</p><p>Tony frowned and paused, then nodded sharply, no longer meeting Peter's eyes and approaching the console to check and make sure it was one hundred percent offline. </p><p>"Yep."</p><p>Peter seemed to shrink slightly into his shoulders not unlike a turtle hiding from a hawk circling his head, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. </p><p>"Am I in trouble...?"</p><p>Tony kneeled down before the console, rifling around in the wires and checking for any remaining connections, making sure that there was no way for the weapons to reactivate. He paused at Peter's sheepish question that arose some questions of his own. Was he going to punish the kid? It was certainly a fair question. He had promised to have a conversation with the kid that never happened. He promised to take the kid's suit away forever and gave it back within a month. It seemed that lately, he'd made a habit of promising consequences that he'd never deliver on. Could he really trust that the kid's violent outbursts of reckless behavior would go away on their own? That he could ignore the tantrums into submission? </p><p>Yet, it seemed that these mistakes were far more than tantrums, and Tony knew that if he did nothing, then it might be the kid's dead body he pulled out of the wreckage, and he wasn't willing to let that happen. Not under any circumstances.</p><p>Tony sharply exhaled and grumbled under his breath, squeezing his nose bridge and pressing his eyes shut for a very quiet moment before giving a tired reply.</p><p>"...Yeah."</p><p>Peter seemed to tense in a slight panic at the conformation, his arms squeezing his torso tight as he stood straight with arms crossed across his chest and the suit's optics impossibly wide. However, before either of them could say anything, Sarah giggled under her breath, and they both realized the woman had been quiet for some time, listening in. </p><p>Tony stood, looking to her limp body before turning to a tense Peter with a tired look.</p><p>"Go on up and call the police to get them down here. I'll be up in a minute."</p><p>He expected some sort of protest, but to his surprise, he got a shaky nod as the boy hopped onto the wall and quickly scurried up and out a manhole that lead to the surface, bathing them in a brief ray of sunlight before once again basking them in the darkness of the tunnels. Tony frowned with a hint of anxiety before taking a breath, focusing on the writhing cacoon lying on the ground. </p><p>The billionaire steeled himself before slowly approaching the unhinged woman with a small grimace on his features. She was largely how he remembered her. Fair-skinned with red hair that cascaded down her shoulders and a fiery temper that rivaled even his own. However, her cheeks were far more sallow than he remembered and far paler than before. He saw a deep-set scar on her jaw and he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew where it came from. Tony kneeled down and looked at his ex's face which was streaked with tears and tense as she now tried to gnaw at the webbing enveloping her.</p><p>His heart throbbed sadly and he once again had the urge to vomit as he took in how his actions had destroyed her. Her beauty. Her family. Her life... he hung his head sadly, fighting back tears.</p><p>"Sarah... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I did this to you..."</p><p>She flinched violently at his voice, not turning around and continuing her efforts at escaping her bonds. He pressed on, trying to reach her.</p><p>"You didn't deserve this... You didn't deserve any of this. We'll get you the help you need... I swear..."</p><p>He stood and stared at her trembling, writhing body for one more moment before turning to the manhole and the ladder leading up to it, letting the nanobots fall from his body and back into the container wrapped around his wrist. As he began scaling the ladder, he heard a gentle voice drift through the air behind him that caused him to pause.</p><p>"You'll pay... everything has consequences... someday you'll pay..."</p><p>Tony stared forward, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.</p><p>"Yeah... I'm starting to get that now."</p><p>With that, he made his way up, pushing open the manhole and wincing as the bright light of the sun violently pierced his eyes. He quickly climbed out, glancing around at the wild red and blue lights flashing around him and the officers standing with guns carefully perched at their sides. Tony let out a small sigh of relief, rubbing both hands over his face and approaching one of the officers with a thumb pointing towards the hole leading down the tunnels. The dark-haired man nodded at him knowingly, sheathing his gun and listening attentively as Tony began to speak.</p><p>"She's all yours, fellas. The girl gave me a bit of trouble but the spiderling bailed me out. She planted bombs under most of the buildings I've owned or partnered with. My CEO can give you a list."</p><p>The man hummed his acknowledgment and gestured to his men. Two officers responded and quickly rushed towards the hole, quickly climbing down to its depths where Sarah awaited their arrival. The officer before him glanced their way before crossing his arms and regarding tony with a raised brow. </p><p>"We got an anonymous tip just ten minutes ago. Thankfully this is a heavily patrolled area due to the crime so we sent in a few units, but we..."</p><p>Tony glanced around inquisitively as the man prattled on and he quickly realized something about the crowds that had gathered. Specifically, who was not a member of the group. A lack of a red and blue spandex-clad teen. <em>Pete...?</em></p><p>Eyebrows furrowed nervously, he separated from the officers gaze and stretched his neck slightly, gazing over the people in the crowd and trying to spot the scruffy head of brown hair or red mask he was so accustomed to seeing. He was met with nothing and he turned to the officer, who was looking at him with an air of concern.</p><p>"Hey, have you seen the spider kid, by any chance?"</p><p>The officer shook his head in confusion, glancing at the crowd, and back at Tony. "Nope, when we got here you and the suspect were the only people around aside from the witnesses."</p><p>Tony felt his heart sink and he looked around, glancing at the rooftops and scanning the sea of people for any sign of his ward. Nothing. He let his hands fall to his side and he grimaced, rubbing a hand down his face. </p><p>The kid ran...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Lines Drawn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The sharp sound of a bell broke Tony out of his reverie as he leaned back against the leather seating, staring off into space and utterly transfixed with his steering wheel as he fiddled with his metal wrist band absently, mind otherwise occupied. He blinked a couple of times and shook his head, glancing up at the crowds of children pooling out of the familiar high school that he had waited in front of so many times before while scanning the crowd for a familiar face. Luckily, the windows were tinted so he didn't get any looks from passersby, but he knew one student, in particular, would have more than a strange look in store when the vehicle caught his eye.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Peter had gone completely off the radar for the rest of that chaotic weekend. After the incident with Sarah, it had been radio silence from his ward for quite some time. While he knew where the boy was when he was Spider-Man due to the tracker he had installed in the kid's suit, his texts and calls went stubbornly unanswered, at first ringing out but soon just going straight to voicemail. When he attempted to call Aunt May, he found that the boy was always out on patrol or at Ned's. Never where he was supposed to be.</p><p>Under normal circumstances, Tony could take a hint and back off. If the kid was getting tired of him being around or needed a break, he could give Peter some space. However, he knew that the last thing the teen needed right now was space. Peter was avoiding him out of shame and fear. He could hardly blame him, especially after the last time he had to punish the kid. Taking away his suit like that and leaving him hanging certainly wasn't his wisest choice and he knew far better now, but Peter didn't know that and hadn't gotten in any real trouble since then. Until now. And as much as he'd like to let things fade back to how they were before, they had to get the hard part out of the way first and he couldn't let Peter keep running away from the punishment he'd rightfully earned.</p><p>His eyes snapped to a familiar head of hair poking out above the crowd and he kept his eyes locked on the kid. As the teen made it closer to the front of the crowd, he eventually came into full view, headphones plugged in and eyes trained on the smartphone in his hand, absently tapping at the screen. Tony smirked slightly in amusement, waiting for the kid to look up and notice the familiar vehicle.</p><p>Soon enough, two brown eyes met his, and the kid immediately tensed, paling dramatically before scrambling to hide behind his friend who Tony recognized as a certain Ned Leeds. The larger boy immediately looked around with eyes wide, muttering to the young man huddled behind him. He slowly grew an expression of understanding and when he caught sight of the van (and unknowingly, Tony's eye), he stiffened and waved awkwardly before a hand shot out and pulled his arm down. </p><p>The billionaire rolled his eyes and sighed at his ward's childish behavior before rapping his hand against the horn a few times. He rolled down the window, giving the two a winning smile and shouting out the window.</p><p>"I see you, Peter Parker!"</p><p>Shocked heads whipped to him and Ned tensed heavily in fear, looking back at Peter with eyes as wide as dinner plates. Whispers erupted around them, most aimed at Tony as a majority of the kids stared in starstruck awe. </p><p>"Is that Tony Stark...?"</p><p>"What's he doing here...?"</p><p>"Why is he driving that...?"</p><p>"Did he say, Peter Parker...?"</p><p>"That Peter Parker...?"</p><p>Slowly, a sheepish Peter made himself seen with an obvious glare at his guardian and a hunched posture as he blushed and hung his head to stare at the ground with a grimace. He turned to Ned and they traded some sort of brief handshake before the teen shoved his hands in his pockets and quickly shuffled in Tony's direction, avoiding the gazes of his staring peers.</p><p>As soon as Peter reached the car, he hopped in the front seat, sinking down into the interior and avoiding looking out the window while glaring sharply in Tony's direction. Tony didn't acknowledge his malice and quickly pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the high school kids to their gossip and sparing the kid any more embarrassment.</p><p>Once they truly hit the road, hopping on the interstate and heading upstate, the silence became slightly tenser. Peter had gone from pouting, slumped over and glaring petulantly, to sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, staring forward glumly as the car swayed and rumbled gently under their feet. Roughly ten minutes of this silence passed as Tony patiently waited for his spider to speak. Despite his nervousness at Peter's unresponsiveness, the past couple days had provided a certain clarity about what needed to happen and he was walking into this with a far more level head. They would have to have this conversation eventually, but he was going to move at Peter's pace this time. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. <br/> <br/>Finally, he heard a small voice fill the atmosphere for the first time in days.</p><p>"I... I'm sorry..."</p><p>Tony raised an eyebrow, glancing at the teen briefly before returning his eyes to the road.</p><p>"About what, kid?"</p><p>Peter seemed to shrink even farther within himself and he starkly avoided his guardian's gaze.</p><p>"I... I would have called back... I just..."</p><p>Tony smiled gently, shaking his head. </p><p>"I'm sure you would have, but I'm not a patient guy, Pete."</p><p>He quickly looked at his ward and saw his spider wince slightly in response. The kid met his eyes with misty ones and pursed lips.</p><p> "Are you still mad...?"</p><p>Tony looked away and sighed, running a hand through his hair and keeping his eyes on the road.</p><p>"Not necessarily." </p><p>Peter perked up slightly, eyebrows going up hopefully before Tony continued, shooting a sharp look at his ward.</p><p>"Don't get me wrong. I'm not happy about what you did. At all. I'm extremely disappointed in you, spider boy."</p><p>Peter's face crumbled, the hope draining from his face as he returned to his glum posture, and Tony continued, gripping the steering wheel to keep himself calm.</p><p>"But I promised myself that I would keep my cool, and I'm not going to punish you out of anger."</p><p>At the mention of punishment, the teen sucked in a sharp breath, glancing at his mentor with wide, chilled eyes before staring forward with a pale expression. </p><p>"P... Punish me...?"</p><p>Tony nodded in acknowledgment as the boy stared forward and fell silent. He took the opportunity to continue.</p><p>"Do you get why I have to? Why we're here?"</p><p>Peter swallowed and shifted nervously, rubbing his neck and resting his forehead on his knees with his eyes squeezed shut. </p><p>"I... uh... I was super reckless... and I... um... disobeyed you a lot..."</p><p>Tony hummed his understanding, not bothering to nod as the kid hid from his gaze.</p><p>"It isn't just that. Your behavior these past few days have been awful and your temper tantrums more than prove it."</p><p>Peter grumbled under his breath with a pout. "I don't have tantrums..."</p><p>Tony narrowed his eyes, not taking them off the road, but based on Peter's sudden silence, it got the message across. "Tell that to my door that still needs replacing, Pete."</p><p>There was no response on Peter's end and Tony took that as a reluctant yield. They drove in silence for a couple of moments as Tony gathered his thoughts and the spider sniffled, staring out the window forlornly.</p><p>Tony took a deep breath squeezing the wheel as beats of anxiety rushed through him.</p><p>"I thought I was going to lose you, kid... I kept thinking I was gonna lose you and you just... You can't keep doing that!"</p><p>He felt his heart thud in his chest as he remembered each time he watched the kid nearly die. Each injury. Each fall. Each moment that put a lump of lead in his gut. He thumped his fist against the steering wheel, trying to control his breathing. He couldn't lose control... Not here. He could feel Peter's eyes fixated on him, wide and watery before a soft voice replied warily.</p><p>"I... I'm sorry, Mr. Stark..."</p><p>Tony inhaled sharply, trying to regain the calmness he had set out with originally.</p><p>"I haven't been fair to you lately. I ignored your needs and forgot to act as your guardian. I've been avoiding this because I don't want to be the bad guy. I'm not used to dealing with kids, let alone a mutant teenager with a breathtaking temper." </p><p>Peter blushed heavily at the insinuation, hiding his face in his knees once more. Tony couldn't help but smile briefly before forcing the sternness back to the surface.</p><p>"But I need to put your head back on straight. Which means I'm gonna have to be the bad guy for a little while."</p><p>The silence fell back over them like a blanket as Peter processed his guardian's words, nodding into his knees and falling into a miserable quiet as he wallowed in embarrassment. </p><p>The boy muttered something into his knees, muffled by his clothing. Tony glanced over with a curious look.</p><p>"What's that, Pete?"</p><p>Peter lifted his head, setting his chin back on his knees. "How... How much trouble am I in...?"</p><p>Tony grimaced, staring forward uncomfortably. "A lot."</p><p>The boy winced slightly. "O-On a scale of one to ten...?"</p><p>Tony huffed out a small chuckle, not smiling, but his eye twinkling slightly as he recalled himself asking similarly phrased questions at the spider's age.</p><p>"...15."</p><p>The boy whined under his breath and Tony frowned, his heart weeping for the kid, but his mind telling him that he was doing the right thing. Another pause followed as the untold question hung between them. One that Peter was too afraid to pose. Tony, however, knew that he had to break it to the kid and ran a hand through his hair with a small grimace.</p><p>"Look, the point is, you can't go around risking your life like that. There's a time and a place for heroics. There's never a time or a place for adding another notch to your personal scorecard." </p><p>"Mr. Stark, I know that! I...!"</p><p>Tony held up a hand, cutting the teen off. </p><p>"I'm not so sure that you do, kid... and if we can’t knock some sense into that alarmingly stubborn head of yours..." </p><p>Tony gripped the wheel with both hands, taking a deep breath and bracing himself for an argument. </p><p>"...we’re going to have to try knocking it into to your backside instead.”</p><p>Peter's head flew up from his knees and the boy stared at his idol nervously, eyes sparking with fear, and his entire body incredibly tense as he regarded Tony with pure anxiety, processing the revelation. </p><p>"W...What...? What are you talking about...?"</p><p>Tony frowned and sighed, shaking his head. <em>You're going to make me come out and say it I guess...</em></p><p>"I'm talking about you going over my knee for a spanking."</p><p>A pin could have dropped in the silence that fell between them as Peter regarded him with pure horror, brown eyes as wide as dinner plates and mouth hanging open limply in shock as his brain seemed to screech to a halt. This only lasted for a moment, however, and the boy began stammering, attempting to connect his brain with his mouth and form some sort of protest.</p><p>"I... I... Wha...N-No! No way!" </p><p>Tony grimaced, avoiding eye contact with the distressed teen as guilt already began to bud in his chest. Dammit, kid...</p><p>"Yes way, Pete. I'm sorry, but this is non-negotiable."</p><p>The spider whined harshly and unfolded himself from his huddled state to grab at the back of his seat, gripping it tightly as he stared at his mentor, scrambling for a response.</p><p>"I-I thought you were just going to ground me or something!"</p><p>Tony's expression tightened as the expected tantrum began to rear its ugly head and he looked at Peter with eyes narrowed ever so slightly in a warning. "That's certainly still on the table, depending on your behavior."</p><p>Peter grit his teeth with a harsh blush and sniffled indignantly. Tony could practically feel the smoke coming from the kid's ears, the sheer anxiety rolling off the boy in waves.</p><p>"B-But I'm fifteen! I'm too old for that! That's for babies or little kids! I'm practically an adult, Mr. Stark!"</p><p>Tony smirked and laughed, a small grin of irony on his face as he pulled up a memory from long before Peter was even a twinkle in his mother's eye. "Kid, the last time I went over someone's knee I was well into my twenties. If an alcoholic college kid is eligible for a spanking, then I'm sure a spitfire teenager more that fits the part."</p><p>The kid sputtered in horror for a moment before falling quiet and pursing his lips in thought. Tony saw something spark realization the teen's eye before he suddenly looked incredibly downtrodden, once again huddling up in the corner of his seat and burying his head in his knees while sniffling to himself with small little sobs littered in between.</p><p>Peter was a terrible actor.</p><p>Tony was more than aware of the conclusion the kid had drawn to wipe away the droves of anxiety crashing over him like waves. Frankly, he wasn't sure if he should be proud or offended. As Aunt May had proven, Peter had stopped responding to Ben's attempts at discipline when he obtained his spider powers. Ben's disadvantage was ignorance and a lack of preparation and Peter no doubt assumed that Tony would make the same blunder. Sadly, the billionaire was going to have to break that illusion.</p><p>He narrowed his eyes at the road, once again fiddling with his bracelet.</p><p>"And don't think for a minute that I forgot about your super strength."</p><p>Peter's sniffling and sobbing jerked to a stop and he inhaled sharply, wide-eyed and horrified as he whipped his head up to stare blankly at his guardian.</p><p>"H...Huh...?"</p><p>Tony slowly smirked and raised an eyebrow at the kid as Peter realized he had revealed his deception fairly quickly. The boy flushed and looked away, ears turning a light rosy pink. </p><p>The man's smile faded and he grimaced. With a few twitches of his fingers, nanobots began crawling over his hand, forming a metal barrier around his dominant hand. However, contrary to Tony's usual metal armor, there were no fancy gadgets or additions. There was only his hand wrapped in a fine sheet of armor, thin tendrils of the nanobots going up his sleeve and wrapping around his shoulder.</p><p>Peter's gaze was fixated on Tony's metal arm and most of the color had dropped from his face, leaving the boy looking incredibly pale. The kid swallowed heavily, scooting back slightly as though he was trying to put as much space between him and the offending device as he physically could.</p><p>"What... What is-?"</p><p>Tony set his hand back on the steering wheel, careful not to grip too tightly with the iron hand that now could apply a more significant amount of force.</p><p>"After your little disappearing act, I used the rest of the weekend to do some tinkering on the suit and program some new designs." He flexed his hand experimentally, feeling the metal plating shift along with him. "I removed all weapon capabilities and any other tools or gadgets from this mode." </p><p>Tony vaguely gestured to his shoulder which was wrapped firmly in tendrils of nanobots. "These reinforce my joints and muscles just like the suit does without being a bulky mess. Which basically means I have a meaner swing than I would normally."</p><p>Peter remained deadly silent, eyes slowly widening even further as Tony continued his casual explanation, the billionaire staring at the road with a far off look.</p><p>"I also calibrated it specifically to your pain threshold based on the stats I got from your suit's AI. Which basically means your superpowers aren't going help you out much here." </p><p>He held up his hand with a glance in the kid's direction, who shrunk down slightly with a small whimper. </p><p>"All this to say, it's a mode specifically for spanking naughty little spiders with legendary pain tolerance."</p><p>Peter vaguely looked like he was going to throw up, his mouth hanging open with a trembling lip as a multitude of emotions flashed across the teen's face. Despair, fear and pure horror as the pieces fell together and he seemed to fully comprehend one thing. Not only was he going to get a spanking from Tony Stark, his childhood idol, mentor, and guardian... </p><p>...he was going to get a spanking from Tony Stark, and it was going to hurt.</p><p>The kid slowly pursed his lip and began shaking his head, brown eyes welling up quickly as he firmly denied the reality laid in from of him, gaze still locked on the metal hand with laser focus. </p><p>Tony nodded his head in response, not saying anything and attempting to keep his guilty heart at bay as a wave of shame washed over him. The fear in Peter's eyes was borderline unbearable.</p><p>The billionaire's gentle nod sparked panic in the young man and Peter shook his head with more resolve, whimpering under his breath. "Noooo..."</p><p>The small whining tone caused the older man to narrow his eyes slightly, but he didn't comment on it, concentrating on driving, especially as he was now exiting off the interstate, getting close to the Avengers facility. His heart pounded nervously. Despite how sure he had felt before in his decision, the closer they got to the facility, the more doubt he felt internal.</p><p>"Yes, Peter."</p><p>Peter also seemed to notice their proximity to their destination and his breathing began to quicken as he stared out the windshield nervously before turning to Tony with a frenzied look in his eye.</p><p>"Please, Mr. Stark, I understand! I know I screwed up!"</p><p>Tony raised a brow. "I'm aware."</p><p>Peter whined and grabbed ahold of Tony's sleeve, trying to catch the older man's eyes.</p><p>"I-I know I shouldn't have followed you! I should have listened!" Tony felt a small tug on his sleeve as the kid's desperate plead's filled his heart with pained guilt. "I won't do it again! I swear!"</p><p>Tony nodded, holding back a wince at his ward's distress and silently admiring his mother's strength. He'd been twice as bad and had a puppy dog stare that was infamous for helping him get his way most of the time. He concluded that the woman either had no heart or was a real fighter.</p><p>"Good. I'll hold you to that, kid."</p><p>Peter's face shifted to one of slight dismay, hand trembling slightly. "Then why-?"</p><p>Tony sighed, shaking the kid's hand from his jacket. "Just because you know that what you did was wrong doesn't mean you're not in trouble, kid. I'd be surprised if you didn't know you screwed up."</p><p>Peter let his hand drop and whined slightly. "But... But I'm sorry!"</p><p>The billionaire shook his head and once again ran a hand through his hair, taking a sharp turn at the gravel road leading up to the Avenger's facility and taking a deep breath to calm his throbbing heart and tightening chest.  "No, you're sorry you got caught."</p><p>The kid sat dumbly with his mouth opening and closing in what appeared to be embarrassment and shock before he let out a long groan, burying his face in his knees and grabbing a fistful of his own hair in frustration, shoulders trembling as he took deep, shuddering breaths. Tony was thankful for the brief moment of quiet, taking the opportunity to steel himself and take a couple of calming breaths and calm his frenzied mental state. </p><p>The car rolled through the gates as they detected the van's signature and he rolled up to the building, pulling the car into the parking space in front of the door, putting the car in the park, and leaning back with a small sigh. He rubbed his face with his hands, a small groan of frustration and tension escaping him before he looked over at his quaking ward. </p><p>The boy was crumbled up into a tiny ball, face buried in his knees with one hand on the back of his neck and the other holding a fistful of hair as an apparent attempt to ground himself as his chest heaved with his heavy breathing. </p><p>Tony found himself at an impasse. He could try to calm the kid down, or try to get this over with as quickly as possible. Thinking it over, he thought that calming the kid would have little effect considering that he would most likely just get worked up again and both roads lead to the same destination. It would be better to get it over with as quickly as possible and not prolong the inevitable.</p><p>He grumbled under his breath and sighed, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door with a short "Come on." </p><p>The billionaire stepped out of the car, fulling expecting a subdued Peter to follow close behind, however, he got a few steps away before realizing there was a rather obvious lack of spider boy trailing behind him. Tony turned towards the car and found Peter still curled up in the front seat. He exhaled sharply, feeling a hint of annoyance and quickly strode over to the passenger side door, swinging it open and poking his head inside. </p><p>"Hey. Let's go, Pete."</p><p>Peter shook his head slightly, no longer trembling but fairly tense under his guardian's gaze as he avoided the older man's stare. Tony narrowed his eyes and rubbed his nose bridge to soothe an oncoming headache at the kid's defiance.</p><p>"Alright... I'll give you till three to get out of the car on your own. Don't make me have to carry you."</p><p>The spider boy's muscles tensed at this threat, however, he didn't move. Whether it was out of confidence or anxiety, Tony was unsure. He frowned and held up a finger.</p><p>"One."</p><p>No movement. He held up a second finger.</p><p>"Two."</p><p>Peter seemed to shrink in on himself more, scooting away from Tony anxiously. The Italian's eyebrows shot up, not thinking he'd get this far as his last finger popped up with a tense, </p><p>"Three."</p><p>The kid didn't move a muscle, aside from jumping slightly at what he knew was his final shot at obedience. The billionaire grumbled under his breath and wiped his face in exasperation.</p><p>"Alright. Fine. We'll do it the hard way."</p><p>Tony reached across the kid, unbuckling his seatbelt and picking the boy up with relative ease, much to Peter's dismay. He flailed in shock, giving his mentor a pleading look and a whine.</p><p>"W-W-Wait! N-No! I can do it! I can walk!"</p><p>"Too late, kiddo." </p><p>The hero stepped back and tossed Peter over his shoulder, thankful for the workout routine that allowed him to support the boy's weight. The teen squeaked in shock and flailed wildly with arms and legs swinging about as Tony began walking towards the entrance, carrying the kid like a piece of luggage. </p><p>"No! Mr. Stark, please! Put me down! Mr. Staaaark!" </p><p>Tony smirked in slight amusement at Peter's childish whining and began walking up the stairs, grunting with the effort as the kid pushed on his back, pushing himself up trying to see where they were headed. When Peter spotted the entrance, he intensified his complaints, swinging his feet back and forth.</p><p>"Mr. Stark, no! Come on! They'll see!"</p><p>Tony tightened his grip as Peter began kicking slightly, shifting the kid in an attempt to keep the boy on his shoulder while struggling to walk up the stairs with the heavy load.</p><p>"Well, you should have thought of that ahead of time, Mr. Parker."</p><p>Tony shot a small glare back to the spiderling, who had the sense to look slightly sheepish in response. </p><p>"And unless you want them to see you over my knee, you'll cool it with the kicking."</p><p>The threat subdued Peter quickly and the young man froze and tensed, shaking his head firmly. As much as the spider boy didn't want the punishment slated for him, every kid knew better than to provoke a public punishment. "No! Uh... N...No... I'm sorry..."</p><p>Tony nodded and scaled the remaining steps before opening the glass door to the Avenger's headquarters. He was met with the instantly curious stares of some staff and one Bruce Banner, who had been leaning against the counter making conversation with the receptionist. The doctor glanced at them both, then grew concerned, striding across the hallway to approach Tony, even as the billionaire was hurrying to the elevator. </p><p>"Hey Tony, is the kid okay?"</p><p>Peter evidently recognized the voice and gave a small gasp of horror. Tony could hear a small whine of embarrassment from behind him, the kid burying his face in his hands with a small, "This sucks...".</p><p>Tony turned and gave him a winning smile, shifting the boy on his shoulder. "Yep! He and I just need to have a little chat and he decided that he didn't have a pair of functioning legs. Right, Pete?"</p><p>Peter just groaned again in response, still hiding from view. Tony chuckled and turned his attention back to the scientist, who had a raised brow and narrowed eyes. </p><p>"Alright...? And what's that on your arm? I've never seen this modification before. Did you guys get in a fight? Did something happen?"</p><p>The kid groaned even louder as the humiliation mounted and grabbed Tony's jacket in a silent plea for discretion. Lucky for him, Tony wasn't out to completely humiliate the boy and he winced and shrugged nonchalantly, looking away</p><p>"Yeaaah, it's kind of a long story. I'll fill you in later. Maybe. I gotta go before this kid breaks my shoulder."</p><p>Bruce looked unsatisfied with Tony's answer but seemed to let it slide, shaking his head and waving them both off. "Alright, well, just don't kill each other."</p><p>Tony smirked and shook his head.</p><p>"No murder, just an attitude adjustment."</p><p>This got him a loud whine and a knee to the chest, making Tony quite aware of the brat hanging over his arm. He grunted and frowned at the impact, rubbing his chest with his free hand momentarily before grumbling under his breath, carrying the kid to the elevator and waving to Bruce as the doors closed. Peter had some nerve, he'd give the boy that much.</p><p>However, the second the doors closed and they were on their way up to the penthouse suite, Tony raised his hand and gave the seat of the boy's pants a sharp smack. It was his normal hand, so he highly doubted that it even registered as pain, but the boy jumped and yelped nevertheless, turning to try and catch Tony's eye.</p><p>"Wh-What was that for?!"</p><p>Tony glared, despite Peter not being able to see his features. </p><p>"That was for kneeing me in the chest. You're lucky I didn't just bust your butt right there."</p><p>All this got him was a squeaky whimper and Peter went limp and quiet with shakey breaths as the elevator approached its destination. </p><p>They finally reached their floor and Tony carried the boy down the short hallway to the door, walking through and closing it behind him with a sharp bang. Finally, he set the kid down on the floor, who quickly scrambled away from his guardian as though Tony was a wild animal ready to strike, regarding him with wide eyes and a trembling lip.</p><p>Tony sighed and rolled his sore shoulder with a grimace, making his way over to the couch and plopping down onto the sofa with a sigh. He took off his jacket and laid it on the side table, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. Peter watched him closely, crossing his arms and pursing his lips anxiously. After a moment of rolling his shoulder to ease its soreness, he sat up and held out his hand to the spider boy in a gesture to approach.</p><p>"Alright, kiddo. Let's get this over with."</p><p>Peter cringed and backed up farther, giving Tony a pleading look as his back hit the wall. </p><p>"H-Here...?"</p><p>Tony raised an eyebrow, nodding in confirmation. Peter looked horrified by the prospect. </p><p>"B-But... the windows!"</p><p>"They're tinted, Pete. No one can see inside."</p><p>Peter's face flushed a light pink and he scrambled for another defense, a hand lying flat on the wall.</p><p>"What if Pepper walks in?"</p><p>Tony smirked slightly. "Well to be fair, you earned it." The smirk faded back to the slightly stern expression. "But, if it makes you feel better, she won't. She won't be back from work till tonight."</p><p>Peter was clearly running out of the argument and stood against the wall, looking to be on the verge of a panic attack as a series of emotions flashed across his face, fear being prominent among them. He went back and forth between staring at the metal gauntlet and Tony's stern expression, likely hoping to see some sign of mercy in the man's firm face.</p><p>Tony sighed and lowered his hand to his thigh, closing his eyes and running his hand through his hair for what felt like the hundredth time. </p><p>"Look, I get that your scared, Pete, but I'm not backing down on this. You nearly got yourself killed because you, once again, snuck around behind my back and did the one thing I told you not to do. I thought you'd learn on your own but apparently that's just not going to cut it. So, we're going to try a spanking. And I think it'd be easier on both of us if we got it over with as quickly as possible." His expression softened slightly. "I'm not gonna hurt you."</p><p>The longer he talked, the more the tension seemed to bleed from Peter's shoulders and be replaced with an expression of anxiety but reluctant understanding. He swallowed and looked down at the floor, fidgeting slightly before nodding, crossing his arms across his chest.</p><p>Tony hummed in acknowledgment, once more holding out his hand in a telling gesture. This time, however, Peter slowly shuffled forward, pausing nervously in front of his mentor. The billionaire took his ward's upper arm and shifted him to be standing at his side before letting go and patting his lap as a wordless command.</p><p>Peter stiffened and stared at the man's lap with an anxious fixation, seeming too nervous to obey. Tony frowned and was going to be more firm, but eventually decided against it. Peter had gotten this far. He wanted to let the kid move at his own pace.</p><p>It was right around then that Tony realized his mother wasn't a fighter at all. That woman was a goddamn warrior.</p><p>Peter locked eyes with his mentor and gave the Italian man the biggest, saddest doe eyes he had ever seen. Tony's breath caught in his throat for a brief moment and he felt like he had been stabbed in the gut with guilt. He had to pause for a moment to scramble for his resolve and steel himself once more before he cleared his throat, once again patting his lap tellingly. </p><p>"Come on, kiddo. Over my knee."</p><p>Peter's expression crumbled and twisted into one of pure dread, dropping the dewey eyed look as fear took over, and for a moment Tony thought the kid might bolt.</p><p>However, to his relief, the boy slowly bent down and shakily laid himself over his mentor's knees, his torso lying on the cushions with his legs dangling off the man's lap and his bottom perched in the air. Tony shifted his leg over Peter's, not pinning the kid's legs necessarily but putting him in a position where it would be possible to do so if necessary.</p><p>He wrapped an arm around Peter's waist and shifted him upwards before coming to yet another impasse. The billionaire couldn't necessarily spank the kid over his jeans. Well, he could, but it probably wouldn't be very effective and the embarrassment of being without them was a part of the punishment anyways. But Tony had a feeling neither he nor Peter would be comfortable with him being half-naked in the middle of the living room for his first spanking from the billionaire. He came to the compromise of taking the kid's jeans down but leaving it at that.</p><p>Tony grimaced and hooked his thumb under the waistband of the kid's jeans, trying to shimmy them down, but found that they caught stubbornly on the kid's hips. Peter's reaction was violent. The teen yelped and reached back, grabbing the waistband of his jeans to prevent them from coming down.</p><p>"N-No!"</p><p>Tony raised an eyebrow but didn't pay the reaction much mind. He let go of Peter's waist and patted the kid's back. "Up."</p><p>Peter blinked and looked up at his guardian in bewilderment, but obeyed, slowly rising from the man's lap and standing at his mentor's side. Tony gave him a stern look and gestured to his jeans with a jerk of his head.</p><p>"Jeans."</p><p>Peter paled, blankly staring at Tony and tensing. </p><p>"Wh-What...?"</p><p>Tony sighed and shook his head. "Your jeans. Unbutton them."</p><p>Peter looked as though Tony had asked him to kick a puppy and he gave the man a desperate look. Tony said nothing in response and tried his best to keep a straight face, though the guilt was mounting. </p><p>The kid whimpered and hung his head, unbuttoning his jeans with trembling fingers. The second they were unbuttoned Tony pulled the kid closer and took his jeans down to his knees, revealing a pair of plain blue boxers. Peter's cheeks and the tips of his ears flushed a flaming red and he grit his teeth, covering his burning face.</p><p>Tony paid this no mind, this time pulling Peter over his lap himself as opposed to letting the kid get into position, wrapping his arm around the kid's waist and holding him close. Peter squirmed unhappily and whined, reaching a hand back to protect himself. Tony frowned and moved the kid's hand gently, depositing it in front of the boy.</p><p>"Are we going to have an issue with our hands, kid?"</p><p>Peter sniffled and shook his head, his voice trembling and nearly silent as he uttered a small "N-No sir..."</p><p>Tony's eyebrows shot to his forehead in shock as he glanced at the kid over his lap. The only time he'd ever heard Peter call him sir was when he was chewing the boy out on the roof after the ferry incident. It emphasized the seriousness of the situation and he nodded dumbly, clearing his throat and turning back to face what was in front of him.</p><p>A small, meek voice interrupted his progress once more.</p><p>"Please... don't do it, Mr. Stark..." Peter turned to look at Tony, who was wincing at the vulnerable tones in the young man's voice. He could tell the kid was already on the verge of tears by the light cracks in his tones and the sniffles every few syllables. "Please don't spank me... I'll be good..."</p><p>Tony swallowed back his anxiety, looking down at his modified hand momentarily before raising it into the air, trying not to tremble from the way his heart pounded anxiously. Peter whined, twisting his hips slightly in an effort to avoid said hand. "No, no, no, no, please, no, please, please, please..."</p><p>The billionaire truly processed then that had no idea how to spank a kid. Luckily, however, the first step was fairly straight forward. Tensing and steeling himself mentally, his hand swiped downward quickly, his metal palm popping against Peter's left cheek with a fleshy sounding smack. Peter's reaction was immediate and he felt the kid jerk in his grip, a startled, choked cry come from the boy's lips as his hips jumped in shock.</p><p>Peter took a few shallow breaths, staring at the wall with impossibly wide eyes before whining pitifully, putting a hand back once more and rubbing at his bottom as though it would rub away the pain as well.</p><p>"Oww..."</p><p>Tony allowed him a moment to process that first smack, looking down at his own palm in thought. He didn't seem to have hurt the boy terribly, his pain calibrations evidently coming through well. So why did he feel like a complete monster...? </p><p>In addition to the guilt, Tony could feel anxiety nipping at his brain and he needed to placate it. Though Peter's reaction was relatively mild.</p><p>Attempting to be gentle even in his anxiousness, he once again shifted the kid's hand out of the way and pulled up the waistband of the kid's boxers to check for bruising, making sure that he didn't cause any unnecessary harm. The skin was barely flushed a light pink from the smack and likely stung, at the worst. This sent a spark of relief through him and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.</p><p>The anxiety he was feeling not only brought about a sense of nervousness and fear, but also a sense of confusion. He had thought he was ready for this. He made the proper preparations, hadn't he? The phone call to May, the gauntlet, the calibrations... So why was he so scared...? Why did he feel like hauling the kid off his lap and hugging all the pain away?</p><p>When a small sniffle and a whimper reached his ears, he realized that this was the reason. Just as he had said, he hadn't wanted to become the bad guy. He was a superhero, a mentor, and a billionaire. An angry guardian was never one of his expectations and he never dealt well with those himself. In his experience, an angry guardian brought a lot of crying and yelling and fighting. He didn't want to become that person. But here he was, being the bad guy.</p><p>Yet, something told him that it would be okay... and that was the only thing that enabled him to lift his hand once more, sighing shakily and tightening his grip around Peter's waist. "Alright..."</p><p>Before the kid could protest, he was bringing his hand down once more, his palm smacking against the seat of Peter's boxers as he set up a slow rhythm and covered the surface of the boy's cheeks with smarting spanks. He tried to spread them out evenly, never hitting the same spot more than twice before moving on. He didn't want to harm the boy. Tony also attempted to dial back the smacks a bit. They would certainly smart a good deal and by no means feel pleasant, but they wouldn't be overly harsh. He wanted to ease Peter into this and not overwhelm him too quickly. The real stingers would come later.</p><p>There was an instant reaction from the spider boy as Tony's hand began peppering his bottom with firm slaps. Peter once again tensed every muscle in his body in protest, his hands squeezing into tight fists and his face buried in the crook of his elbow from shame. Despite the boy's attempts at hiding, however, Tony could hear the kid's small yelps of pain radiating from his side, wavering and in a much higher octave than usual. The pleads and promises from before seemed to be stubbornly held back, the only sounds being the sharp slaps and Peter's small cries of pain.</p><p>"Ow... o-ow... ow... ouch...owwwww..."</p><p>After a couple of moments of these slow rhythmic swats, he decided to push forward a bit more and sped up, increasing the strength behind his spanking by a small amount. To Peter, however, the change was far more prevalent and the kid's cries intensified in volume, his ankles crossing tightly as though to steel himself against the swats.</p><p>Tony paid this no mind, letting himself fall into this new rhythm and as much as he tried to keep a stoic attitude, the bud of anger and disappointment that had been mounting since they had gotten here had finally burst within him.</p><p>"You scared the crap out of me kid! I've already had to watch you nearly die more than once! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"</p><p>Peter's whimpered behind his sharp yelps, looking up with his chin resting on the back of his hand, and his features twisted into a wince with grit teeth. "I-I- Ow! - No! I'm...! Ow! I'm sorry, sir!"</p><p>Tony tensed at the familiar phrase, unsure if the kid meant it and tired of the confusion. "Are you?! If you knew it was wrong then why did you do it?!"</p><p>Peter scrambled to find an answer, stammering, and whining under his breath. Tony lowered his swats to the kid's upper thighs to give some encouragement. Peter nearly flew out of the man's grip, yelping violently and thrashing about his hips. </p><p>"I-I don't know! It was stupid! I just-! I-!" </p><p>Peter didn't finish his thought, choking up slightly with what sounded like tears. Tony returned his swats to the center of the boy's cheeks in slight mercy, knowing how much having your thighs smacked could hurt. The kid went slightly limp in appreciation, sniffling a bit. However, Tony was not satisfied.</p><p>"You're right! It was stupid! It was stupid because I told you no! I told you to stay away from this! I told you to stay put and to keep yourself safe!"</p><p>Peter had abandoned his urge to stay still and his hips began to twist about more frequently, his feet drumming against the floor and his chest heaving as he breathed heavily, squeezing his eyes shut and crying out far more freely. </p><p>"B-But I saved you! You said I-"</p><p>Tony cut the kid off with a couple more scorchers to the thighs, earning a sharp yelp and a violent jerk.</p><p>"That doesn't change the fact that you disobeyed me and could have gotten killed, and your lucky that everything turned out as planned or you could have been in serious danger! When I tell you to do something in regard to your safety, you do it! No questions asked! You don't sneak out and follow me to a fight, try to disable thermite bombs, or disobey my orders! Because I told you so, because I'm the adult, and because! You! Know! Better!" </p><p>During his scorching lecture, Tony had transitioned to the hardest spanks he intended to use so far, aiming these at Peter's tender sitting areas where he knew the kid would feel it most when sitting down. He wanted this punishment to stick with the boy for a while and remind him of the consequences of his actions. </p><p>The teen's hand quickly flew back to shield his burning bottom from any further attack. Tony quickly caught Peter's wrist and pinned it to the kid's hip without missing a beat, continuing to layer red, stinging handprints over the seat of the boy's boxers. By this point, Peter was openly wailing and pleading with him to stop, legs kicking back and forth while he clawed his free hand on the couch.</p><p>The pleas stuck a knife in Tony's gut and he grit his teeth, tears beginning to sting his eyes. The familiar guilt now felt like a lead block in his stomach, weighing him down more and more each time his hand connected with the kid's squirming backside. Images of his father doing the same caused him to feel ill.</p><p>"M-Mr. Stark! Owww! Sir, please! It's too much! It hurts! O-Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Ouch! Please! Please, it's too hard!" <em>Dad! Ow! Shit! Alright, I get it! It hurts dammit!</em></p><p>"It's a punishment! It's supposed to hurt!" <em>It's supposed to hurt, Anthony!</em></p><p>Tony felt as though his father's voice was resonating in his head and escaping from his lips. This sends disturbed shivers down his back. Like someone had dumped ice water over his head. It would have been too easy for him to slip into his father's patterns. To punish the kid and walk away without a word, locking himself away until he felt he could face the boy again. </p><p>However, hearing the kid's pleading and desperate tears kept Tony grounded and pushed those voices away. Soon enough, the boy went limp in his grip, face buried in the couch as his back heaved with tears and watery apologies. Tony jerked to a stop, hand hovering in the air as he stared at Peter with wide, uncertain eyes. </p><p>Tony had seen the kid cry before. When he took Peter's suit the first time there were quiet tears, the kid trying his best to seem strong in the face of his mistakes but still being a kid in the end. This, however, was different. Peter was distraught. And it was his own fault. </p><p>Tony's hands shook as he quickly dismissed the nanobots wrapped around his arm. He was frozen for a moment as his mind scrambled to figure out what to do before he shakily lifted the boy off his lap. The sobs quickly grew in volume as they lost their muffler and he got a quick look at Peter's face. The boy's eyes were squeezed tightly shut as tears poured down his bright red cheeks, hair completely frazzled and nose bright red and running slightly from the force of his tears. </p><p>The billionaire felt suddenly ill as he held the boy, seeing the damage he'd done, and he felt like a complete monster. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and the teen as he could, the shame chilling his core. </p><p>However, he didn't get the opportunity as the boy let out a loud sob and lurched forward, wrapping his arms around Tony's neck and burying his wet face into the man's shoulder, his entire frame quaking. Tony froze, staring forward blankly as he attempted to process what was going on. </p><p>"'M-'m s-sorry! D-don't hate m-me! I-I was st-stupid...!"</p><p>The desperate pleading struck Tony to the core and he felt the tears that had been stinging his eyes spill over as he wrapped his arms gently around the weeping child, one hand buried in the kid's hair and the other holding Peter as close as he could.</p><p>"Sh... It's okay... It's alright... You weren't stupid... I... I don't hate you, kiddo..."</p><p>Peter whimpered and held Tony tighter, scrubbing at his wet cheeks.</p><p>"I-I'm sorry, Dad...!"</p><p>Tony's entire body went stiff at the title that Peter slipped in without hardly realizing it. The boy continued to weep into his neck while Tony felt the sudden urge to vomit from the anxiety shooting through him. Dad...? Peter saw him that way...?</p><p>The Italian looked down at the trembling boy with fear in his eyes. This was a line Tony hadn't noticed he had crossed. Of course, it wasn't that he didn't want to be a father figure to Peter. He had signed the guardianship papers. He had prepared for the responsibility. However, hearing that name fall from Peter's lips made it real. And it terrified him. What if he wasn't ready? He had no experience with this. He didn't know how to be a dad. All his experience came from his father who was the worst possible role model. How was he supposed to handle this? Was he capable? What if he screwed this up just like everything else?</p><p>However, anxiety ebbed away. He became aware of the boy's sudden stillness as he failed to respond and Tony settled. Regardless of whether or not he was ready, it didn't matter. Because Peter needed him and he couldn't fail the kid. Not again. This wasn't about him. This was about Peter.</p><p>Tony shook off the panic and sighed under his breath, stroking the kid's hair in an attempt to comfort the boy. "It's alright... It's over now. It's all over. You did good, Spider-Man..."</p><p>A meek voice floated up from behind him. "I... I did...?"</p><p>Tony smiled slightly. "Yep. You took it like a champ."</p><p>There was a brief pause as Peter sniffled and whimpered, still wiping the tears and snot from his cheeks. </p><p>"Are... Are we... okay... now...?"</p><p>Tony nodded against the boy's shoulder. "We're okay."</p><p>They sat like this for some time, Tony carding a warm, calloused hand through Peter's sweat-dampened hair and Peter sniffling quietly, leaning into his mentor's soft touch from his spot gingerly perched on the man's lap. The silence was rather consuming, giving Tony far too much time to think. But before long, Peter's trembling voice broke the quiet.</p><p>"I'm sorry, sir..."</p><p>Tony startled slightly, having almost forgotten the kid was there in the grip of the silence and his own racing mind. </p><p>"It's okay, kid... Like I said, we're good."</p><p>This wasn't the right thing to say, which baffled the billionaire as the boy's shoulders were once again trembling like mad, soft hiccups replacing his soft whisper.</p><p>"It's not...! It's not okay...!"</p><p>Tony's eyebrows furrowed and he patted the boy's back, separating from the tight embrace. The expression on Peter's face was crushing. His nose and cheeks were flushed bright red as though he'd been out in the cold for hours, fresh tears rushing from his big brown doe eyes, down the kid's face to take refuge on his quivering chin. </p><p>Where was this coming from? Yes, the kid had just been spanked, but he'd figured the emotional, crying bit was done and over with.</p><p>On instinct, he raised his hand and wiped away a stray tear with the pad of his thumb, immediately feeling a flush of embarrassment at the gesture but unable to bring himself to care as his genuine worry outweighed his reluctance.</p><p>"What do you mea-?"</p><p>Peter huffed in frustration, scrubbing at the traitorous tears with grit teeth and stiff shoulders. "I.... I..."</p><p>Before Tony could interrupt, the kid slammed his fists down onto his own thighs. </p><p>"I did it on purpose!"</p><p>The genius blinked dumbly down at the boy. Peter steamrolled any response he might have had.</p><p>"I just... You were so mad and you weren't talking to me and I just kept going and doing really shitty things and I just wanted... I didn't want you to do that but I... I thought... I wanted you to... do something!"</p><p>Peter's hiccups caused his chest to heave as he whimpered and squeezed the fabric of his jeans, refusing to make eye contact.</p><p>"I didn't listen when you told me to stay in the car, I yelled at you, I broke your door, I insulted you, I-I didn't listen, I took your food, I... Why aren't you mad? Why aren't you making me quit? I was breaking the stupid rules!"</p><p>The honesty caught the man off guard and he stared into space, looking through the kid who stared up at him in terror and wait. He looked more like he'd just told Tony he'd murdered his firstborn in cold blood, with how crushed his expression was. Does this kid seriously think I'll combust over a bit of rebellion...?</p><p>Tony couldn't offer much in response but a blink and shrug. "Yeah, I got that."</p><p>Peter's jaw dropped. </p><p>"You... huh...?"</p><p>Tony couldn't fight the smallest of smirks and huffed out a chuckle. "My teenage rebellion made the eleven o'clock news, and I didn't have superpowers to boot. I'd have to be blind, deaf, and stupid not to notice something was up."</p><p>Peter was dead quiet in shock, as though this was some sort of groundbreaking secret that'd he'd been pushing Tony's patience. The man grinned in response, setting a hand on Peter's shoulder.</p><p>"Pete, let me tell you something, alright?"</p><p>Peter nodded dumbly, snapping his mouth shut and hanging his head. Tony pushed the kid's chin up with a finger.</p><p>"No. Eyes up, kid."</p><p>The boy didn't move from where he was directed, listening patiently as Tony breathed and continued.</p><p>"You're fifteen. You're a fifteen-year-old kid dealing with girls, and high school, and college applications. On top of that you're dealing with superpowers, and supervillains, and civil wars that the stupid adults in your life should never have gotten you involved in."</p><p>Before Peter could argue, he pushed forward, not letting the boy dig a new hole.</p><p>"I would have expected you to rebel without you literally climbing the walls. This..." He trailed off, pursing his lips and scrambling for the right word. <em>What is this... guardian and ward? Mentorship? Fa...</em></p><p>"...This is... pretty new territory... for both of us. We're still figuring this out and we're probably going to be figuring it out for a while. So, I'm not going to hang you out the window by your fingernails for testing my patience to figure out what you can get away with."</p><p>Peter flushed at the childish metaphor, clenching his fists and wrinkling his nose while opening his mouth to argue. Tony held up a silencing finger, coaxing the teen to shut his mouth. </p><p>"No, kid. It's done. You pushed my buttons, and I laid out the boundaries. Now you know my limits."</p><p>His face hardened a touch and he saw Peter wince ever so slightly. </p><p>"And if you decide to go off the reservation again, my gauntlet will make a reappearance and I'll brand those limits onto your ass."</p><p>Peter's face paled at the thinly veiled threat and he looked like he wanted to fight this verdict for a brief moment. Tony quirked an eyebrow questioningly. </p><p>No argument came. </p><p>The billionaire's expression softened and he squeezed the boy's shoulder comfortingly. Some of the tension in Peter's features relaxed, and a small palm came up to wipe at raw, tear-stained cheeks.</p><p>"But I won't toss you out. Never that, Pete. I didn't sign those papers for fun, I'm responsible for you... I chose that responsibility. You don't get to get rid of me that easily. Understand?"</p><p>The boy was quiet as he stared up at the man's face and for a moment Tony felt a touch of discomfort at those wide, searching eyes, feeling rather on the spot. However, those eyes seemed to find what they were looking for as they settled for meeting the hero's gaze, their host nodding with a soft, almost relieved look.</p><p>The tension he'd felt at being analyzed by the kid's searching eyes melted away and Tony smiled warmly, ruffling Peter's hair and reveling in the embarrassed scoff and small hands pushing him away with a laugh.</p><p>There's my kid.</p><p>Once Peter managed to fight Tony's hand away, and adjust his brown locks, the breath was once again knocked out of the older man, two strong arms wrapped firmly around his neck. After catching a fraction of the air that escaped his lungs, he returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around the scrawny fifteen-year-old trying to choke his last remaining years away.</p><p>Tony wondered when he'd gotten so soft... and old. He didn't let himself ponder.</p><p>Peter reluctantly pulled away and suddenly Tony could breathe properly again, though he tried not to show the strain the embrace had on his lungs. The boy's face was more relaxed than he'd seen in days, almost beaming at the man despite the fact that just moments before, he was dangling off Tony's knee and wailing like a small child while the man spanked his bottom red. Tony wondered if he ever had moments like this with his father.</p><p>Likely not. </p><p>"Alright, kid." Tony patted Peter's upper arm, jerking his head towards the kid's door. "Go rest up, take a nap. Drink some water. Don't do drugs. Make good choices."</p><p>Peter huffed and shook his head, running a hand through his frazzled hair. "You're so weird, Mr. Stark."</p><p>Tony barked out a laugh, lightly nudging Peter towards his given room. "Yep, I'm the whole circus, Pete. Now go rest, I have to go order something." </p><p>He gave Peter a slightly mischievous look. "You're going to need rest for when you're learning how to install a new door."</p><p>An annoyed groan tore from the kid's lips as he retreated, but Tony's smile didn't falter.</p><p>Tony never considered the possibility of having children. He was irresponsible, reckless, and ill-mannered at best, not even taking into account his plethora of bad examples to take after. </p><p>But, feeling a warmth bloom in his chest as he watched Peter retreat to his room, Tony was pretty sure he wouldn't have it any other way.</p>
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